Video Compression/Expansion Processor

44 APPLICATION NOTES The contents of this article are based on information obtained from manufacturers in the electronics industry, or their representatives, and do not imply practical experience by Elektor Electronics or its consultants. VIDEO COMPRESSION/EXPANSION PROCESSOR The recently introduced AM95C71 from Advanced Micro Devices compresses and expands bit-mapped images for storage and processing in facsimile equipment and, of course, personal computers. The device is a significant step forwards towards the paperless office, and PC users will immediately see opportunities to design a really fast hardware frame grabber. Scanned images contain much white space and redundant information. If the image is coded to eliminate redundancy, it requires less memory when stored, and can be transmitted at a given data rate in significantly less time. Efficiency is im- portant in today"s information-hungry applications, even in high-bandwidth en- vironments. With low data rates, efficacy b...