Video Interface Technology

With digitalization the number of camera interface specifications has grown enormously. The source of this growth is the technical potential of digital electronics and the extensive parameters of video technology as well as the requirements of manifold uses. Nearly every industry uses specialized camera interfaces. A short introduction to the basic parameters of video interfaces will help explain this situation. This manuscript gives an overview of camera interface technologies used in the automotive industry. The major concepts will be presented and their specific qualities described. The author comes to the conclusion that each electronic concept is purposeful for the varying requirements of a certain branch of the automotive industry. However, only the standardization of more aspects, then the electrical interface, will make cameras affordable for all thinkable automotive use cases. The author has followed the development of video technology over the course of his professional life. As a project leader at ISO, he was responsible for the automotive camera interface specified in ISO 17215.