Computers as Components, 2nd Edition

384 CHAPTER 7 Multiprocessors

green

green

blue

red

FIGURE 7.25

The Bayer pattern for color image pixels.

Image compression need not be performed strictly in real time. However, many

cameras allow users to take a burst of images,in which case the images must be com-

pressed quickly to make room in the image processing pipeline for the next image.

Buffering is very important in digital still cameras. Image processing often takes

longer than capturing an image. Users often want to take a burst of several pictures,

for example during sports events. A buffer memory is used to capture the image

from the sensor and store it until it can be processed by the DSP ...