New four-channel video decoder provides high image quality to enhance automotive safety

The TW9984, a new four-channel analog video decoder has been introduced by Intersil. The device features a built-in analog video encoder for around-view parking assist applications, providing improved safety for drivers and pedestrians. The device is based on Intersil’s market leading video decoder technology and replaces up to nine discrete components with a single chip. It delivers the industry’s best analog decoding performance resulting in excellent picture quality to generate 360-degree surround images for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), says the company. ADAS is a rapidly growing market segment, driven largely by safety requirements in all light passenger vehicles. Most new vehicles today have options including around-view camera systems for parking assistance and blind spot detection / elimination. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that rearview cameras can reduce back-over fatalities by more than 50 percent. Accordingly, automotive image sensor penetration in vehicles is increasing, and ABI Research estimates shipments will reach 197 million by 2020. The Intersil TW9984 analog video decoder and encoder provides motorists with detailed, high-quality video, enhancing their ability to see objects not just behind the car but around the entire vehicle. An around-view monitor system, also referred to as a surround view monitor, processes video from four cameras and then combines the four images into a single birds-eye, top-down view as if a camera was stationed directly above the vehicle. The monitor helps drivers visually confirm the vehicle’s position relative to surrounding objects for easy maneuvering and parking. The TW9984 integrates four high quality NTSC/PAL analog video decoders with 10-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) to support four analog camera inputs simultaneously. A flexible digital output interface makes it easy for the system designer to send the images to a processor that can then combine the four images into a single unified around-view image. The on-chip analog video encoder provides the ability to transmit the combined video as a standard analog composite signal to the head unit display. The TW9984 also incorporates analog anti-aliasing filters on each channel input to further reduce component count. The high level of integration helps to simplify the system design and minimize the solution footprint to preserve critical board space, says the company. “Intersil is a leader in multi-channel video and is at the forefront of ADAS around-view camera applications,” said Philip Chesley, senior vice president of precision products, Intersil. “The decoder’s innovative architecture and high level of integration enables an ultra-clear image to increase driver and pedestrian safety, as well as avoid vehicle damage.”