Advantech's Windows® CE Development Team Unveils Video Capture Support

Advantech's Windows® CE development team is introducing exciting new video capture support that will bring Windows® CE benefits to a wide variety of applications. Enjoying the Windows® CE benefits of a smaller system architecture, more reliable and better performance, lower required CPU power and SSD reliability, this support will open the door to more efficient security systems, more reliable home automation and digital video recording capabilities, all running the Microsoft Windows® CE operating system on an Advantech hardware platform.

A More Logical Solution

Today's video capture needs range from Monitoring to Digital Video Recording with a TV tuner and/or using a video source such as a CCD camera, these have traditionally been accomplished by using Video for Windows architecture on Windows 9x/NT. This more advanced operating system has made it possible for even a novice computer user to easily connect a video capture device to their computer. For example, they can simply plug a USB CCD camera into their machine, the system recognizes the device and supplies the driver or asks for the driver installation disc automatically. Once configured, a software application (such as Netmeeting) can easily call up this (CCD) device with Video for Windows Architecture. The typical Windows® 9x/NT system is described below.

Although the Windows 9x example shown above is established and easy to use, we all know that reliability is questionable at best, a large HDD is usually required, and more advanced CPUs are generally needed. These factors also drive up the cost for these systems. Windows CE greatly simplifies this system architecture and allows the video capture device to be accessed directly, thus increasing performance. See diagram below. Windows CE also creates savings in other ways, such as using SSD as a hard drive (no moving parts), the ability to use cheaper, more application-specific CPUs, and many others. Click here to review all the advantages of Windows CE

What is reflected in the Windows CE diagram shown above is the "hardware specific" nature of the system. This is where the Advantech Windows CE Development team is adding value to Advantech hardware. Advantech can help our customers customize a solution for their "specific video capture" device. Although there is still not the "plug and play" nature of the Windows 9x OS, Advantech views the ability to help customers in this way as a great opportunity in the market, giving more customers the advantages of using the Windows CE OS. This is particularly important for the OEM/ODM market where Advantech can help these customers tailor their device for their specific applications. The benefits of a Windows CE OS continue to drive interest from customers.

In-house Windows CE Development Team

Advantech's Windows CE Development team is excited about this new capability and support. They have worked hard to bring this Windows CE video capture support to the market, and are ready to work with more customers in a wider variety of applications. Many Advantech products (and customer applications) are perfectly suited to capitalize on the advantages Windows CE brings. There is already one ODM partner utilizing these capabilities for a homeserver with abundant software features that are supplied by our Windows CE development team, with others in the planning stages. Overall, everyone is excited about seeing Windows CE expand.

Contact Information

Call your local Advantech sales contact to find out more about Advantech's Windows CE video capture capabilities. You can also reach us anytime at epc@advantech.com.tw

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