Frequently Asked Questions 

How do I use SPx to add radar scan conversion into my application?

SPx provides radar processing and scan-conversion capabilities that are designed to work alongside your application software. The SPx scan-conversion comprises two components: the main scan-conversion process and the display processing. These two activities can run on different machines, or on a single system. The display processing is designed to work with your existing underlay and overlay graphics application. It intelligently adds radar video into an existing Windows or X11 application, with minimal cooperation from the application. Your application software needs to define the window, report the view geometry and configure the fade/colour/mode of the scan-converter as needed. All real-time data processing and display updates are handled internally in the library.

Can SPx-Scan be used with third-party graphics toolkits

Yes. SPx-Scan is designed to have minimal dependence on how the graphics underlays and overlays are created.

Do Cambridge Pixel supply the map drawing software?

No. Map drawing, for example ECDIS and S57 charts, is a specialist area. There are a number of companies who offer excellent packages for map drawing and graphics displays, including Gallium, SevenCs and iLog. Some of are demos include maps and charts, but this is implemented with demonstration code that serves to demonstrates our scan conversion technology. We will be happy to provide advice or programmign assistance to support your mapping requriements.

Why should I consider a software scan converter instead of a hardware version?

More companies are seeing the benefits of the software approach to radar scan conversion. Software offers greater flexibility, ease of upgrade, lower initial and life-time costs, and higher reliability. The SPx-Scan display supports high-quality real-time fade, multiple channels, integrated processing library, all delivered in a open standards, extensible framework. Hardware scan converters are frequently designed to meet today's need, and are not easily upgraded to meet evolving requriements.

What CPU hardware is needed to run SPx-Scan?

It is hard to give a definite answer to that question. The software will run on a entry-level laptop, but demanding multi-channel configurations benefit from a modern multi-core processor and modern graphics card. CPU and GPU loadings in the region of 8 to 12% are typical for radar decompression from network, scan-conversion, real-time fade and multi-layer display rendering at 1600 x 1200 (Pentium 4 processor running Windows XP). Significantly, this hardware is very cost-effective. Cambridge Pixel are able to supply benchmarks for a number of configurations. Consult the factory with details of your application and we will give you an idea of what to expect.

What operating systems are supported?

We support Windows XP, Vista and Linux as standard. The software is highly portable and other operating systems can be considered on a program basis.

Can the scan conversion be separated from the application to provide protection?

Yes. The scan conversion proces can be run on a different processor card, if desired, reporting the video data directly into the graphics processor.