UG0938

User Guide
Gamma Correction
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50200938. 2.0 7/21

Contents

1 Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Revision 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Revision 1.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.1 Key Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.2 Supported Families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.3 Inputs and Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.4 Configuration Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.4.1 IP Configurator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3 Testbench . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.1 License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.1.1 Encrypted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.1.2 RTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

4 Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.1 Timing Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.2 Input Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.3 Output Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

5 Resource Utilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

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Figures

Figure 1 Inputs and Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Figure 2 IP Configurator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Figure 3 Design Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Figure 4 Libero SoC Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Figure 5 GAMMA_CORRECTION_C0 Instance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Figure 6 SmartDesign Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Figure 7 Import Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Figure 8 Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Figure 9 Stimulus Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Figure 10 ModelSim tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Figure 11 Gamma Correction IP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Figure 12 Input Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Figure 13 Output Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

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Tables

Table 1 Input and Output Ports for Native Video Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Table 2 Input and Output Ports for AXI4 Stream Video Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Table 3 Configuration Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Table 4 Testbench Configuration Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Table 5 Gamma Correction IP Resource Utilization for 1 pixel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Table 6 Gamma Correction IP Resource Utilization for 4 pixels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

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Revision History

1 Revision History

The revision history describes the changes that were implemented in the document. The changes are
listed by revision, starting with the most current publication.

1.1 Revision 2.0

The following is the summary of changes made in this revision.
• Added Table 2, page 4 and Table 6, page 13
• Updated Table 3, page 4 and Table 5, page 13
• Added section IP Configurator, page 5
• Updated section RTL, page 6
• Replaced Figure 4, page 7 and Figure 5, page 7

1.2 Revision 1.0

The first publication of this document.

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Introduction

2 Introduction

A camera sensor converts the light intensity of a pixel into equivalent digital value. The digital value is
directly proportional to the light intensity of a pixel and hence has a linear relationship. However, a human
eye perceives the images as a logarithmic function of intensity instead of a linear function. If the images
from a camera sensor are directly displayed on a display device, then the scene will appear unnatural
because of the differences between the camera sensor and human eye perception. To compensate this,
the image from the camera sensor goes through the gamma correction.
Gamma correction uses an exponent function to compensate for the logarithmic perception by using the
below equation:
Dout = (Din)γ
Equation 1
where,
Dout represents output image data (RGB). Represented in the range of 0 to 1.
Din represents input image data (RGB). Represented in the range of 0 to 1.
γ represents the gamma correction factor. A fixed gamma correction factor of 0.4545 corresponding to a
gamma of 2.2 is implemented in the IP.
The Gamma correction IP is implemented using a LUT for exponent function.
The width of the input data determines the number of entries in the LUT. For example, 8-bit input data
would require 28 (256) entries in the LUT.
This section describes the inputs and outputs and configuration parameters of the Gamma Correction IP.

2.1 Key Features

• LUT based gamma correction
• Fixed gamma factor of 2.2
• Supports data width of 8 and 10
• Supports Native and AXI4 Stream Video Interface for video data transfer

2.2 Supported Families

• PolarFire® SoC
• PolarFire®
• RTG4™
• IGLOO®2
• SmartFusion®2

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Introduction

2.3 Inputs and Outputs

Figure 1 • Inputs and Outputs

SYS_CLK_I

RESETN_I DATA_VALID_O

DATA_VALID_I RED_O
Gamma Correction
RED_I GREEN_O

GREEN_I BLUE_O

BLUE_I

The following table lists the input and output ports of the Gamma Correction IP.

Table 1 • Input and Output Ports for Native Video Interface

Port Name Direction Width Description

SYS_CLK_I Input 1 bit System clock.
RESETN_I Input 1 bit Active low asynchronous reset signal.
DATA_VALID_I Input 1 bit Input data valid signal. This signal should be asserted when the data is
valid.
RED_I Input 8 bits Input Red pixel data.
GREEN_I Input 8 bits Input Green pixel data.
BLUE_I Input 8 bits Input Blue pixel data.
DATA_VALID_O Output 1 bit Output data valid signal. This signal is asserted when the output data is
valid.
RED_O Output 8 bits Output Red pixel data.
GREEN_O Output 8 bits Output Green pixel data.
BLUE_O Output 8 bits Output Blue pixel data.

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Introduction

Table 2 • Input and Output Ports for AXI4 Stream Video Interface

Port Name Type Width Description

RESETN_I Input 1 bit Active low asynchronous reset signal to design
SYS_CLK_I Input 1 bit System clock
TDATA_I Input 3*G_PIXELS*G_DATA_WIDTH bit Input Video Data
TVALID_I Input 1 bit Input Video Valid
TREADY_O Output 1 bit Output slave ready signal
TUSER_I Input 4 bits bit 0 = End of frame
bit 1 = Unused
bit 2 = Unused
bit 3 = Unused
TDATA_O Output 3*G_PIXELS*G_DATA_WIDTH bit Output Video Data
TVALID_O Output 1 bit Output Video Valid
TUSER_O Output 4 bits bit 0 = End of frame
bit 1 = Unused
bit 2 = Unused
bit 3 = Unused
TSTRB_O Output G_DATA_WIDTH/8 Output Video Data strobe
TKEEP_O Output G_DATA_WIDTH/8 Output Video Data Keep
TLAST_O Output 1 bit Output End of frame

2.4 Configuration Parameters

The following table lists the configuration parameters used in the hardware implementation of the
Gamma correction. These parameters are generic and can be varied based on the application
requirement.

Table 3 • Configuration Parameters

Parameter Name Description

Data Width Represents bitwidth of input and output data. Current version supports 8-bit
and 10-bit input and output data
Video Interface Native Video Interface and AXI4 Stream Video Interface
Number of Pixel Number of pixels per clock 1 and Number of pixels per clock 4

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Introduction

2.4.1 IP Configurator
The IP configurator is shown in the following figure.
Figure 2 • IP Configurator

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Testbench

3 Testbench

A testbench is provided to check the functionality of the Gamma Correction IP. To ensure that the
testbench works correctly, the configuration parameters listed in Table 4 must be configured at the
beginning of the testbench file.

Table 4 • Testbench Configuration Parameters

Name Description
CLKPERIOD Clock period
g_DATAWIDTH Width of each pixel
HEIGHT Vertical resolution
WIDTH Horizontal resolution
IMAGE_FILE_NAME Input image file

3.1 License
Gamma-Correction clear RTL is license locked and the encrypted RTL available for free.

3.1.1 Encrypted
Complete RTL code is provided for the core, allowing the core to be instantiated with the SmartDesign
tool. Simulation, synthesis, and layout can be performed within Libero® System-on-Chip (SoC). The RTL
code for the core is obfuscated.

3.1.2 RTL
Complete RTL source code is provided for the core.
A testbench is provided to check the functionality of the Gamma-Correction IP. This testbench is working
only in Native Video Interface with a data width of 8.
The following steps describe how to simulate the core using the testbench. The packaged testbench will
gamma correct an input image.
1. In the Design Flow window, expand Create Design. Right-click Create SmartDesign testbench
and click Run, as shown in the following figure.
Figure 3 • Design Flow

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Testbench

SmartDesign testbench is created, and a canvas appears to the right of the Design Flow pane.
2. In the Libero SoC Catalog (View > Windows > Catalog), expand Solutions-Video, and drag the
Gamma-Correction IP core onto the SmartDesign testbench canvas.
Figure 4 • Libero SoC Catalog

3. Select the default component name and click OK.

4. In the Gamma-Correction Configurator GUI window, update the G_DATA_WIDTH and click OK.
5. On Design Hierarchy tab, right-click GAMMA_CORRECTION_C0 and click Set As Root.
6. Select all the ports on the GAMMA_CORRECTION_C0 instance, right-click, and select Promote to
Top Level, as shown in the following figure.
Figure 5 • GAMMA_CORRECTION_C0 Instance

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Testbench

Figure 6 • SmartDesign Toolbar

7. Click Generate Component from the SmartDesign toolbar.

8. Go to the Files tab and select simulation > Import Files..., as shown in the following figure.
Figure 7 • Import Files

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Testbench

9. Import the Input Image file “CFA_RGB_in.txt” from the following path:
..\<Project_name>\component\Microsemi\SolutionCore\Gamma-Correction\4.0.0\Stimulus. To
import a different file, browse the folder that contains the required file, and click Open. The imported
file is listed under simulation as shown in the following figure.
Figure 8 • Simulation

10. On Stimulus Hierarchy tab, right-click gamma_correction_test testbench file and click Open
Interactively from Simulate Pre-Synth Design.
Figure 9 • Stimulus Hierarchy

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Testbench

The ModelSim tool appears with the test bench file loaded onto it, as shown in the following figure.
Figure 10 • ModelSim tool

If the simulation is interrupted because of the runtime limit in the DO file, use the run -all command to
complete the simulation. By default, the output image file is placed in the Files/simulation directory and
uses the CFA_RGB_out.txt.

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Simulation Results

4 Simulation Results

4.1 Timing Diagram

The following is the timing diagram for Gamma Correction IP showing video data and output image.
Figure 11 • Gamma Correction IP

4.2 Input Image

Figure 12 • Input Image

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Simulation Results

4.3 Output Image

Figure 13 • Output Image

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Resource Utilization

5 Resource Utilization

Gamma correction is implemented on PolarFire FPGA (MPF500T -1FCG1152I package). The following
table shows the resource utilization report after synthesis.

Table 5 • Gamma Correction IP Resource Utilization for 1 pixel

Gamma Correction IP LUT DFF RAM1K20 MACC

Data Width = 8 354 26 0 0
Data Width = 10 1439 32 0 0

Table 6 • Gamma Correction IP Resource Utilization for 4 pixels

Gamma Correction IP LUT DFF RAM1K20 MACC

Data Width = 8 1429 98 0 0
Data Width = 10 5760 122 0 0

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