PsiTech SIROCCO Digital Video System
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. How does the Sirocco Digital Video System compare with standard
HD in speed and resolution?
Much faster and higher resolution. The basic Sirocco Digital Video System (Primero Model) operates at resolutions of 1280 x 1024 pixels for up to 1000 fps. This is approximately 30% greater detail than available with HD 720p. Higher resolution is available as well. Additionally, the Sirocco Primero Digital Video System captures images at 1000fps, approximately 33x the speed of regular HD and 16.7x the speed of HD at 60fps.
2. Why would anyone want higher speeds or higher resolution than
HD?
Everyone has experienced a "slow motion" replay while watching TV sports broadcasting. Where most "slow motion" systems have limited memory and require immediate operator intervention, the Sirocco Digital Video System can capture an entire sporting event in "slow motion" without requiring any fast operator action on the "pickle switch" controls.
For engineering, scientific and military imaging applications, critical events may be either very fast or highly unpredictable. In either case, the Sirocco Digital Video System can be set up to image events that occur in milliseconds where you can't predict when a critical event will occur.
Sports, car crashes and space launches are great examples:
In sporting events and car crashes, you never know when a great play will be made, when a foul will be called or when a car will crash. The Sirocco Digital Video System can be broadcasting in regular HD (60 fps) while recording at 500 or 1000 fps. For instant replay, "slow motion" can be instantly made available from the Sirocco's Non-Linear Memory and played back at speeds varying from real time to 1/200th of real time.
For space launches, high resolution "slow motion" can help find critical, yet transient events more easily. Just minutes after the recent Return to Flight Space Shuttle launch, the Sirocco was able to provide high resolution, "slow motion" imagery. In prior Space Shuttle missions, the best imagery was available from film at just 120 fps (days after launch since it had to be processed and digitized).
3. How long can a Sirocco Digital Video
System record?
Recording is only limited by Sirocco's storage. Mag-CartsTM are available in sizes from 750 GigaBytes to 10 TeraBytes. At 1000 fps, 1k imagers will use 50 GB each minute. At this rate, a 750 GB Mag-CartTM will be used in about 15 minutes. A 10 TB Mag-CartTM has a capacity of approximately 3.3 hours at this rate. For longer recording, additional Mag-CartsTM can be attached.
There is virtually no limit to the recording capacity of the Sirocco Digital Video System.
4. Which is more important: speed (fps) or resolution?
In both cases, more is obviously better. Anyone who has seen even HD, compared with SD video, will come away a believer in higher resolutions. PsiTech works with a variety of camera imagers that have resolutions of 1280x1024 or more (30% greater than 720p HD). When feature films are "digitized" for editing, they are scanned at approximately 4k (4k x 4k) resolution. After editing, they are frequently printed back onto film for distribution; this results in a maximum effective resolution of about 4 megapixels. For visual perception, 4 megapixels appear to be acceptable for most applications.
However, for some engineering applications, motion information is often more important than visual acuity. The fact that there is motion of a certain type, where there should be either no motion or motion of a different type, can be extremely important. Additionally, precise timing of an event may be more critical than traditional visual cues and higher frame rates allow more accurate timing calculations.
So, what's more important, resolution or speed? We really don't worry too much about it. High speed imagers with resolutions above 4 megapixel will soon become available. When these 4k imagers become available, we'll be able to provide both speed and resolution (4k x 4k images at 500 to 1000 fps). The ultimate answer is that both resolution and speed are important and that, soon, you won't be required to choose. We'll be able to provide both high speed and ultra-high resolution. And, with the upgradeable design of the Sirocco, you won't be locked into just 1k resolutions.
5. What do I do if imagers with
higher resolution are available in the next year?
Upgrade, if you want. The PsiTech Sirocco is designed to be modular. When new imagers become available, all that needs to be done is to change the "Personality Module" to accommodate the new camera imager. Changing imager heads is as simple as changing a single "Personality Module" inside the Sirocco.
We currently interface with a number of imagers. Currently, there are Personality Modules for a number of imagers/cameras. Personality Modules for other imagers are in the early planning stages. The Sirocco's modular design allows it to be easily upgraded.
6. Is the Sirocco Digital Video System
new?
No. PsiTech is now releasing its 4th generation Digital Video System, the Sirocco 2.10 Primero. This is the third generation of the Sirocco Series of Digital Video System. The first PsiTech Digital Video System was the Savannah, which used PsiTech's proprietary RAM memory architecture. Our design of the RAM memory system was independently sold by TRW as the RAM CubeTM.
Because of cost and capacity constraints and due to the new technology developed by PsiTech, we were able to move beyond a pure RAM storage approach to produce the current Sirocco design.
7. How easy is it to control the Sirocco Digital Video System?
Most use a standard TCP/IP connection to control the Sirocco. Just attach any Java enabled WEB Browser device and you can control all of the features of the Sirocco Digital Video System from a single console. Any Apple, Windows, Unix, Linux, Cray, SGI or Sun system can be used control the Sirocco. While some have asked us to set up controls for Java enabled cell phones, we haven't been able to identify any real need. But, it can be done. And, if there is a real need, we'll do it. It would be pretty cool.
8. From how far away can you control
the Sirocco Digital Video System?
Distance is not really an issue. The system can have an attached monitor for local control. Alternatively, we've controlled projects from several thousand miles away through a standard Internet connection using appropriate security. There is no real technical limit.
9. Can I use the Sirocco Digital Video System to capture and broadcast standard HD?
Yes. While the Sirocco Digital Video System is designed for higher capacity than HD, it can both record and display standard HD signals. When using higher speed, higher resolution imagers than HD, video data is stored at the highest level and sampled down to the HD standard. If you attach an HD Camera, the Sirocco Digital Video System can operate as a Non Linear direct replacement for other HD recording systems.
Sure. HD is a broadcast standard. And, we can accommodate that standard while we record at the highest level available from each imager. In real time, we can sample this higher standard video data as it is being recorded down to the HD broadcast standard.
Broadcasting or displaying an HD signal does not interfere with the recording process which can be set at the highest levels available from the imager.
10. Can I use the Sirocco Digital Video System to broadcast Slow Motion?
Certainly. Any vision data captured at up to 1000 fps can be displayed or broadcast at slower speeds. All you have to do is identify the sequence, specify the speed and direct the vision data to display or broadcast. Images captured at 1000 fps can be easily displayed at 30 or 60 fps (or any other speed) to give a remarkable "slow motion" effect.
Where other "slow motion" systems capture images at 100 fps and display at 10 fps, the Sirocco can capture at speeds of 1000 fps and broadcast at any speed from 1 to 30 fps. This provides greater detail and flexibility.
11. What happens to the video data after it has been captured by the Sirocco Digital Video System?
To maintain the high speeds, the Sirocco converts incoming image data into a high speed format. To display, broadcast or transfer, data is converted back into whatever industry standards are required. From all of the external ports, Sirocco Video Data appears to be in a standard file format, ready for use.
Other systems require downloading data from either the camera or an intermediate storage device. Downloading can take hours, even at gigabit ethernet, firewire or USB 2.0 speeds. With the Sirocco's Mag-CartTM Design, video data never needs to be downloaded. The Digital Video Data is captured directly onto a removable/replaceable Non-Linear Mag-CartTM where it can be displayed or broadcast in real time.
Video Data never needs to be downloaded from a Sirocco. Editing the Digital Video Data directly from the Mag-CartTM is easy; just connect the Mag-CartTM to the editing system and the Mag-CartTM operates as Direct Attached Memory. When finished with a project, the Mag-CartTM can be used as Network Attached Storage. Should you need to copy the Video Data, there is a high speed duplicate module which can copy Sirocco Video Data in real time. With PsiTech's Sirocco, you never need to waste time downloading.
12. Is there any data compression?
No, the Sirocco Digital Video System does not compress data, as a standard. Sometimes data coming from particular brands of imagers is already compressed; so the Sirocco captures the most pure data available (sometimes compressed by others).
Some customers have requested both uncompressed data and data compressed based on specific algorithms. Some have asked for both uncalibrated imagery and data calibrated based on the Sirocco's internal imager calibration module. PsiTech provides as much data integrity as is possible and gives the customers the option of creatively modifying raw imagery, according to their preferences, and only if they want.
13. How expensive is the Sirocco Digital Video System?
A complete Sirocco Primero Digital Video System can cost less than a comparable HD system. The extra speed and resolution of the Sirocco Primero are then essentially free.
For those who do not need all the speed that the Sirocco Primero can offer (speeds under 500 fps at 1k resolution), Sirocco systems can be configured at even lower prices (Sirocco Point Six and Point Three).
14. How reliable
is the Sirocco Digital Video System?
PsiTech systems are used in many 24/7 environments with over 1.5 billion operating hours and statistically insignificant failures.
15. What are some of PsiTech's other products?
Within the Sirocco Family of Products, there are four (4) basic models. The Sirocco Primero operates at approximately 1000 fps at 1k resolution. The Sirocco Quattro is four times as fast, operating at approximately 4000 fps at 1k resolution. The Sirocco Quattro is useful for higher resolution imagers and image fusion applications (where data from several cameras/imagers are combined as used in 3-D or IR-Visible fusion projects).
For those with tight budgets, we've packaged what we call the "half-pint" series, the Sirocco Point Six and Sirocco Point Three. These have internal speeds of 600 MB/Sec and 300 MB/Sec respectively and offer an entry level, economical package.
Supporting the Sirocco Digital Video Systems are DAS Docking StationsTM (Direct Attached Storage) and NAS NodesTM (Network Attached Storage). Mag-CartsTM come in sizes from 750 GigaBytes to 10 TeraBytes.
All of the Sirocco Digital Video Systems use the same GUI interface, Java controls and Personality Modules so that, as needs grow, there is no need to learn a new system. Additionally, since the design of the Sirocco is so modular, upgrades from (for example) the Primero to the Quattro, can be performed by reusing many of the core components, if necessary.
16. How old of a company is PsiTech?
PsiTech is over 25 years old, originally a spin-off of Conrac Monitors (the first digital display manufacturer). Initially, we were the experts in display technologies, virtual reality and 3-D imaging. As display technologies matured, our digital signal processing expertise was applied to image data capture, non-linear editing and data modeling.
PsiTech has never been a household name. For most of our history, we provided mission critical imaging technology to other large scale systems integrators. While PsiTech was not the prime contractor, PsiTech's imaging equipment scans nearly all the mail in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. We've also designed and developed high performance displays for JPL and SAC and supported aerial surveillance through the Rivet Joint Program.
17. How did you get your name, PsiTech ("sy tek")?
"Psi" is the Greek letter often used to identify a Photon. "Tech" is of course from technology. PsiTech has, for over 25 years, developed advanced computer systems that manage imaging data for both display and image capture.
PsiTech = Photon Technology. Well, we thought it was clever.
HIGH SPEED DIGITAL