Altera to Demonstrate 4K Upscaling and HEVC Encoding for Broadcast Systems at SMPTE 2013

Altera Will Present a Paper on Creating Scalable Beyond-4K Video Processing Systems on FPGAs to the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers

San Jose, Calif., October 18, 2013—Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) today announced it is showcasing its 4K upscaling and high-efficient video coding (HEVC) broadcast solutions at the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) 2013 Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition at the Loews Hotel, Hollywood, from October 21 to 24. Additionally, Altera will be presenting a paper on, “A Design Approach to Creating Scalable Beyond 4K Video Processing Systems on FPGAs,” which will compare implementation techniques and methodologies used to overcome challenges in computational complexity and scalability when designing those systems.

The H.265/HEVC encoding capability will be demonstrated on 4K ultra HD (UHD) streams, highlighting impressive video quality and 2x the bitrate reduction over the previous H.264 standard. Altera’s edge-adaptive scaling engine, which runs on a Stratix V FPGA development kit, will demonstrate an efficient single-chip solution that up-converts high-definition (HD) video to UHD quality.

According to Chris Chinnock, president of Insight Media and program chair for the 2013 SMPTE Business Symposium conference, the UHD demonstration area where Altera is located, is likely to be the industry’s largest assembly of 4K displays and equipment in one room. “Through a series of side-by-side comparisons that experts and non-experts will appreciate, attendees will see firsthand how 4K technologies, such as Altera’s, have advanced,” Chinnock said.

Altera’s video engineering manager, Dr. Benjamin Cope, will present his paper, “A Design Approach to Creating Scalable Beyond 4K Video Processing Systems on FPGAs,” October 24 during the “More, Better, Faster Pixels” session at 3 pm in the Salon 1 room.

Altera’s FPGA technology enables manufacturers to adopt the emerging 4K UHD standard, which delivers 4x the image resolution compared to current 1080p HD video equipment. By enabling a screen display resolution of 3840x 2160 pixels, 4K UHD presents video in much greater detail, offering  a more immersive TV viewing experience.

Altera’s portfolio of broadcast solutions includes:

• The FPGA industry’s first H.265 or High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) codec hardware co-processing which enables motion estimation offload that cuts CPU workload by half, using an architecture that’s scalable to 4Kp60
• Integration of video connectivity protocols being considered for 4K enablement – such as DisplayPort, industry’s first 12G SDI demo, and TICO – a light-weight visually-lossless mezzanine compression offered by intoPIX
• SMPTE 2022-5/6 video transport, which may be combined with compression such as JPEG2000 to enable 4Kp60 streams
• An innovative design methodology that enables time-division multiplexing of video processing resources, resulting in efficient resource sharing and reduced system overhead
• A portfolio of real-world design examples, such as the 4K-to-HD downscaler
• The Video and Image Processing IP Suite, which provides all the common building blocks for professional video system designers

“This is an exciting time for Altera as our technology can enable the broadcast industry to cost-effectively deliver better video quality for emerging video standards in processing, compression and connectivity,” said Umar Mughal, senior manager, Altera broadcast business unit.

About Altera

Altera® programmable solutions enable designers of electronic systems to rapidly and cost effectively innovate, differentiate and win in their markets. Altera offers FPGAs, SoCs, CPLDs, ASICs and complementary technologies, such as power management, to provide high-value solutions to customers worldwide.  altera.com