CAST offers first 12-bit JPEG extended sequential, DICOM-compatible IP core

WOODCLIFF LAKE, USA: Semiconductor intellectual property (IP) provider CAST, Inc. now offers the only encoder core that supports both the Baseline (8-bit) and Extended Sequential (12-bit) modes of the JPEG image compression standard.

This plus a fast, compact design make the new JPEG-E-X IP core one of the best available lossy compression encoders for medical imaging, reconnaissance, and other applications where exceptional image detail is required.

JPEG-E-X baseline/extended sequential JPEG encoder core
The 12-bit pixel depth of the ISO/IEC 10918-1 JPEG standard's Extended Sequential process enables lossy compression of images with more detail than possible with conventional, Baseline 8-bit JPEG. Grayscale images with 12 bits of data per pixel are often used for medical images, and the new encoder core conforms to DICOM, the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine standard.

In addition to compressing images with from 8 to 12 bits per color sample, the encoder core can also compress non-standard motion JPEG streams. An optional bit-rate control block makes the encoder suitable for applications with restricted bandwidth requirements.

Smart design makes the core versatile and competitive even against 8-bit only encoders. For example, it can process 450 MSamples/sec with only 69K gates in a typical ASIC 0.09 micron process, or 280 MSamples/sec in high-end FPGA devices, or even 30 frames per second of 16:9 HDTV 1080p video in low-end FPGAs.

CAST's partner Alma Technologies S.A. developed and owns the JPEG-E-X core, and works closely with CAST customers to ensure their success.

The core joins the broadest range of image and video compression IP cores available from any IP vendor, including JPEG, JPEG for Scalado SpeedView, JPEG 2000, JPEG-LS, Lossless JPEG, H.264 video compression, and other functions.