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Our product design and development blog focuses on sharing our experience and knowledge across a wide range of technologies and industries including hardware and software design, audio, video, internet of things, mobile application and signal processing technologies.

Howdy Pierce The Two Ways to Get Video Across the Internet Networking By Howdy Pierce In all the internet video out there, there are basically two methods of delivery: Progressive download and adaptive bit rate streaming. Details
Mike Perkins Transforms for Video Compression, Part 3: The DCT and Why Transforming Is Valuable Image Processing By Mike Perkins The use of transforms in data compression algorithms is at least 40 years old. The goal of this three-part series of posts is to provide the mathematical background necessary for understanding transforms and to explain why they are a valuable part of many compression algorithms. I’m focusing on video since that’s my particular interest. Part… View Article Details
Howdy Pierce We Need VP8 Like a Fish Needs a Bicycle Video By Howdy Pierce I’ve been waiting for a little to mull over Google’s announcement about dropping H.264 support in Chrome in favor of VP8. Although my partner Ben Mesander would take the other side of the argument, I think the world needs VP8 like a fish needs a bicycle. Details
Mike Perkins Transforms for Video Compression, Part 2: Matrix Representation and 2D Transforms Image Processing By Mike Perkins The use of transforms in data compression algorithms is at least 40 years old. The goal of this three-part series of posts is to provide the mathematical background necessary for understanding transforms and to explain why they are a valuable part of many compression algorithms. I’m focusing on video since that’s my particular interest. Part… View Article Details
Cross-Processing Images in the Gimp Image Processing By Ben Mesander Transform your digital photos with vintage charm using Gimp’s cross-processing script for unique color film effects. Download now from the Gimp registry! Details
Mike Perkins Transforms for Video Compression, Part 1: Vectors, the Dot Product and Orthonormal Bases Image Processing By Mike Perkins Discover the power of transforms in video compression. Part 1 explains vectors, dot products, and orthonormal bases—essential for understanding advanced compression algorithms. Ready to transform your approach? Details
Mike Perkins Irrational Optimism and Project Planning Outsourced Engineering By Mike Perkins Learn how Cardinal Peak navigates project planning challenges with realistic estimates. Discover effective techniques for accurate engineering timelines. Details
Howdy Pierce Two Types of Technical Outsourced Engineering By Howdy Pierce In all the sturm und drang of bad economic news, Cardinal Peak is on a bit of a hiring spree. If you’re a talented engineer who is interested in embedded application development and lives in the Denver/Boulder area, please get in touch! We’re working on some very cool products that I hope to be able… View Article Details
Rolling CMOS Shutters and Curved Wiper Blades Image Processing By Ben Mesander One time last winter I shot a photo with my camera phone out the windshield of my car and got a strange image with curved wiper blades: No, my wipers don’t look like this! I’ve been meaning to track down the reason why this happened. It is clear that cellphone cameras don’t usually use mechanical… View Article Details
Howdy Pierce I Want Smarter Competitors! Outsourced Engineering By Howdy Pierce We recently became aware of another contract engineering firm that had appropriated our Why Contract Engineering page for their own website. This other firm (and no, I’m not going to link to them) claims on their home page that they “operate in an honest, ethical and professional manner,” so I guess they’ve got that going… View Article Details
Howdy Pierce Did the Manhattan Transfer Use Auto-Tune? Audio By Howdy Pierce Discover the controversy of Auto-Tune in jazz vocals. Can you detect its subtle use in Manhattan Transfer’s latest album? Details
High School Prior Art Software Development By Ben Mesander Based on a Slashdot link, I read a blog post today about the Oracle/Google lawsuit over Java virtual machine patents. Among the list of software patents that Oracle has decided to sue Google with are two that I’m fairly certain that I wrote prior art for. This was in 1983 or 1984 while I was… View Article Details
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