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London, 21st April 2009 --Apical Limited was today awarded a Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation for developing iridix, a technology for improving the performance of imaging devices.
iridix originated from research into how the human eye processes visual information, and Apical’s IP cores and software libraries enable cameras and displays to produce higher-quality, more realistic images. When Apical launched iridix in 2002, it was rapidly recognised by device manufacturers worldwide as a significant innovation in digital imaging.
iridix is based on a mathematical model of how the human eye adapts to different illumination conditions locally within a scene. The model is sufficiently accurate that high-quality, natural-looking images can be produced automatically in any environment. It is also sufficiently fast and compact that it can be implemented at low cost and with low processing power, meaning that it can be used in almost any device.
In cameras, iridix allows capturing natural images and video under all conditions, and supports a very wide range of sensors from those in mobile phones and digital cameras, to surveillance, automotive and broadcast. iridix can effectively process images even of the widest possible dynamic ranges to produce natural and accurate output.
In displays, iridix performs the role of adapting the image content to the effective contrast ratio of the display under real viewing conditions. In particular, it increases the viewing quality of low-power display modes, and enables a good viewing experience even under bright sunlight.
iridix technology has been licensed worldwide and is estimated to have been incorporated in over fifty million products, including digital cameras, mobile phones, surveillance cameras and displays. Several leading Japanese electronics manufacturers use iridix to create advanced imaging features in their products.
Says Michael Tusch, Managing Director: “We began developing iridix around 10 years ago with the aim of bringing human vision processing into digital imaging devices. Now iridix exists in a wide range of SoC and embedded software implementations and we are glad to see how it has enabled our customers to develop product features which have been most successful with end users. We work intensively on continuing to innovate in this direction, and are very glad that our work has achieved recognition by this prestigious award. ”
About the Queen’s Award
The Queen's Awards for Enterprise are the UK's most prestigious Awards for business performance. They recognise and reward outstanding achievement by UK companies. They are presented in three separate categories:
International Trade - recognising companies that have demonstrated growth in overseas earnings.
Innovation - recognising companies that have demonstrated commercial success through innovative products or services.
Sustainable Development - recognising companies that have integrated environmental, social, economic and management aspects of sustainable development into their business.
The Awards are made each year by The Queen, on the advice of the Prime Minister, who is assisted by an Advisory Committee that includes representatives of Government, industry and commerce, and the trade unions.
About Apical
Apical is the industry leader in advanced dynamic range management and noise reduction technology for embedded applications. The company’s products are derived from research into the human visual system and are designed to maximize the performance of a wide range of image capture and display devices. The product range comprises hardware IP cores and embedded software libraries. Apical is a privately held company based in the UK.
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