Can Graphics Processing Units be Used to Improve Video Processing Systems?

A combination of higher definition video and transform complexity commands a continued improvement in performance from video processing systems. Consumer demand for even better video quality in the future will further negotiate an increase in computation complexity and video resolution. FPGAs are currently used to implement video processing transforms and can provide a throughput rate that meets the high resolution dictated by current video standards. The FPGA´s high performance is achieved through exploiting temporal and spatial parallelism, bit width optimisation, efficient data handling and flexible memory access patterns. Architectural improvements such as the addition of embedded memory blocks and multipliers have further improved the processing capability of modern FPGAs. The goal of this work is to analyse graphics processing units and contrast their benefit with architectural features of the FPGA.