FPGA Gigabit Ethernet Camera processing is hurting my head

Question

So, I'm planning to build a Camera system based off a camera like this: http://www.alliedvisiontec.com/apac/products/cameras/gigabit-ethernet/prosilica-gx/gx2750.html (outputs footage via Gigabit Ethernet).

Now I am very comfortable in a Linux environment but I hear that to accomplish my requirement of encoding 2K footage, Real Time to CinemaDNG I need to program that function to an FPGA.

I have tried to do some searching on my own but have found FPGA development kits which cost a lot and are tailored for high end Broadcast development, I am already throwing away thousands of dollars for the camera alone.

I am keen to learn a language like Verilog and work with an FPGA but all I want is a small form factor FPGA board that can:

• Be controlled by a computer via PCIe,
• Receive footage from a camera via Dual Gigabit Ethernet (Via FMC Daughter card which I can buy)
• Encode to Cinema DNG
• Output to HD-SDI, HDMI (Via FMC Daughter card which I can buy)
• Save to SATA SSD (Via FMC Daughter card which I can buy)
• Encode and Output Low Res(H.264, 720p) to computer also via PCIe

So really all I need is an affordable small PCIe FPGA board with support for FMC Daughter Cards that's powerful enough to process 2K video but for the life of me I cannot find anything that simple(it seems most manufacturers want to chuck in their homemade BBQ sauce when all I want is the steak).

My head is about to explode soon, can someone help?

Do I even need to use an FPGA, are there any easy to learn and implement solutions available?

Answer 1

Some GPGPUs can encode video. They will also have HDMI, DVI or Display Ports - and a lower price tag than the FPGA boards you would otherwise need.

For dual GbE you'll need a fast PC anyway.