Image stabilizers: Utilizing DSP for more advanced, scalable stabilization algorithms

How Human Monitoring's "Leonardo" image stabilization technology takes advantage of TI's DaVinci processor to bring high performance image stabilizing to mass-market cameras. A case study.

By Rajesh Pal, Manager of Video Infrastructure Solutions, Texas Instruments
Dr. Nitzan Rabinowitz, CTO, Human Monitoring
Ira Dvir, VP of research and development, Human Monitoring  
videsignline.com (August 19, 2009)

Image stabilization remains a major challenge for video cameras, from high-end cinema and broadcast units down through consumer camcorders. Although a variety of technologies now exist to stabilize images, they are typically complex and come at a steep price, making them impractical for most applications.

Yet some end users often swallow that cost simply because the alternative can be more expensive. For example, an intricate shot on a movie set could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to recreate if the first take can't be used because it turned out to be too shaky.

Of course, not every end user can justify that expense. So what's needed is a solution that can scale from the low end to the high end, with no trade-offs along the way in terms of price and performance. That's a tall order, but meeting it creates a huge market opportunity. For example, besides applications such as broadcast, cinema and consumer cameras, the technology also could be used in verticals such as government and security.

To understand why it's such a challenge, consider the two fundamental variables. First, there are frequently multiple people in close proximity of each other in a single frame, so the system must be able to differentiate between each of them.

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