EE Times Under the Hood - June 23, 2008 - (Page U38)

UTH0623DIGI_pg28_38.qxd 6/11/08 3:02 PM Page 38 under the hood: w w w. e e t i m e s . c o m D I G I T A L HOME Taking a look inside the Flip, I was amazed that the camera simply comprises the 2.8-cm-high lens, two mini connectors (for the USB and buttoncontrol interfaces) and a single processing board that holds the sensor, video processor and two memory ICs. At the heart of the system is a Micron 1/4-inch VGA CMOS sensor with a Zoran Coach 8M (ZR36460BGCF) image processor. Vice president of engineering John Furlan said Pure Digital chose the MT9V011D00STC sensor for its quality and because it had the right pixel size of 5.6 microns square for maximum performance across all light ranges. It also has the necessary frame rate (30 to 90 frames/s), programmable gain via a two-wire interface, on-board 10-bit analog-to-digital converter and 10-bit parallel output. This output feeds directly into the Zoran processor. The engineers chose the Coach 8 specifically because “it’s very integrated, with a high-quality image-processing pipeline as well as high-quality image compression—in hardware, vs. DSP—plus USB,” said Furlan. In addition, Zoran made the full image-processing pipeline available, so Pure Digital could perform the configurability it wanted while achieving 30 frames/s, even in low light. Fast image processing How does the Flip process 30 images in a second? The video resolution of 640 x 480 translates to roughly 0.25 Mpixel. “So, a camera that can process and store a 4-Mpixel image in 1 second can process a 0.25-Mpixel image in 1/16 of a second,” Furlan said. The configurability of the processor also allowed Furlan’s team to implement proprietary algorithms and core intellectual property to overcome a main obstacle to smooth digital video: autoexposure control. The end result is a digital camcorder experience for $150 that rivals that of camcorders in the $500 to $600 range. For next-generation camcorders, the team plans to work on higher integration, better audio fidelity, an even more camcorder-like feel to the device, better user responsiveness, faster recording and playback, and reduced system noise. ■ • w w w. t e c h o n l i n e . c o m At the time, he said, “video was still stuck in the pre-point-and-shoot days of still cameras,” with systems so complex that the typical user had to be technically skilled. The company saw the opportunity for not only capturing but also sharing video via sites like YouTube that accept user-generated content. “We had to adjust our strategy,” Fleming said. The road to the Flip had begun. The designers rallied around a simple theme: no extra buttons. In fact, the team had a goal that within 30 seconds, the customer should know how to use the camera. “It must be intuitive or we won’t use it,” Fleming said. For me, the ramp-up period was exactly that: I inserted the batteries, took a second to realize the power button was on the side (there’s no On/Off decal), and hit the big red record button on the button panel. Six other buttons arranged around record are for zooming in and out, forward and reverse, and play and delete. (There are also two buttons for the flip-out USB interface and the sliding battery compartment release.) To stop recording, just hit the red button again. But you have to push really hard. Fleming said this was a trade-off the team made, as some users were hitting the record/stop function accidentally. Nonetheless, even my 6- and 4-year-old kids took to the Flip right away—and loved it. To download, flip open the USB connection, plug it in, and the embedded software does the rest, including providing the APIs for quick uploads. A fixed-focus (0.8-meter to infinity) lens with an f/2.4 shutter rating provided excellent video in very poor lighting conditions. “We made sure we IN BRIEF In the five months since I tore this device down, I’ve recommended it to everyone who’ll listen.The designers hit the nail on the head with the combination of ease of use, decent video and quick YouTube uploads. I don’t tolerate poor interface design or complex menus very well, but this was a breeze. Even more surprising was the internal simplicity.The designers hit a sweet spot with a good design of a timely device that fills a need for simple-to-use digital video—at low cost. Component focus did video really, really well,” said Fleming. The same quality applied to the viewing display, consisting of a 528 x 132-pixel transflective TFT LCD measuring 1.5 inches on the diagonal. The zoom is only 2x (digital), to minimize degradation, Fleming said. To package the device in a slick and efficient form factor, the company partnered with design specialist Smart Design. To overcome one obstacle, “Smart Design came up with the exterior-front-plate removal [scheme] to access the battery compartment,” said Fleming. “This kept the sleek design.” But thickness was still an issue, given the depth of the lens. “It’s a 2.8 [centimeter] lens,” he said. “We could have used a smaller one, but the quality would have gone down.” Smart Design suggested a curved front plate that accommodates the optics’ structure, yet still keeps the sides of the camcorder slim. The Flip Ultra clearly adheres to the “keep it simple” mantra. Unlike high-end digital camcorders, it eschews the motors and moving parts of optical zoom mechanisms for digital zoom, and avoids the extra cost and space of external lighting and removable flash cards. Instead, it’s based solely on a 2.8-cm lens, a single Micron CMOS sensor, a Zoran Coach 8 image processor and two Samsung memory chips.Around those go some basic passive devices, as well as a lens, microphone and smartly designed battery compartment and power management system.All in all, a compact, ergonomically laid out, low-cost design. 38 Electronic Engineering Times, TechOnline | June 23, 2008 http://www.eetimes.com http://www.techonline.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Under the Hood - June 23, 2008

Under the Hood - June 23, 2008 Extreme Design: SuitSat Pushes Desigers' Limits Evolution of the Smart Phone Mature Devices get Rolly Rocking GPS: Garmin Nuvi 750 vs. HP iPaq 310 Inside the Sony OLED TV Multizone Dgital Audio Flip Ultra Camcorder - An Ode to Clean Design Robot Guitar Tunes Itself E-book is a Sight for Sore Eyes Scientific Calculator Boils Down to Two ICs $100 BOM Eludes First OLPC Laptop 45 nm: What Intel Didn't Tell You Next Step in NAND Flash Evolution Surveillance on a Shoestring Hot 3G Phone Owes Debt to Analog SecurID Fob: Single-Chip Safety Net

Under the Hood - June 23, 2008

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