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Dalsa QuickCam User Manual

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QuickCam User's
Manual
30-Aug-06
03-032-10187-04
www.dalsa.com

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  • Page 1 QuickCam User’s Manual 30-Aug-06 03-032-10187-04 www.dalsa.com...

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Getting Help ..............................5 Customer Feedback and Support........................5 Installing, Connecting, Detecting, and Saving ____________________________________7 2.1 Installing QuickCam and Camera Drivers........................7 Installing Drivers for Your Camera......................... 7 2.2 Running QuickCam..............................8 2.3 Connecting, Detecting and Acquiring Images ......................8 Detecting a Camera............................
  • Page 4 QuickCam User's Manual Overview: Exposure Control ........................... 21 Setting the Camera's Exposure Mode ......................21 Setting the Camera's Line Rate and Exposure Time ..................22 GPIO Control___________________________________________________________23 6.1 The GPIO Control Block............................... 23 GPIO Input Labels ............................24 GPIO Output Labels............................25 6.2 GPIO Control Block Programming Language......................
  • Page 5 QuickCam User’s Manul QuickCam Application Windows............................64 Camera Configuration Window ........................64 Image Output Window ........................... 71 Message Window ............................71 Network Device Finder ..........................71 Camera Display Window ..........................72 Time-outs & Packets Dialog Box ........................73 Virtual Serial Port ............................74 Menus _______________________________________________________________76 Menu Bar Commands................................
  • Page 6 QuickCam User's Manual 03-032-10187-04 DALSA corp.

  • Page 7: Dalsa Quickcam

    For context sensitive help, place your cursor in the field where you want more help and press F1. • Click the Help button on the tab in QuickCam where you want more information. • For the complete Help, select Help QuickCam Help on the QuickCam menu bar.
  • Page 8 QuickCam User's Manual 03-032-10187-04 DALSA corp.

  • Page 9: Installing, Connecting, Detecting, And Saving

    If the installation wizard does not start automatically, click Start on the Windows taskbar, and click Run. Type D:\Setup, where D is the letter that corresponds to your CD drive. 2. Click Install QuickCam and follow the online instructions to complete the installation. Installing Drivers for Your Camera If you are using a Spyder3 GigE camera, you must install drivers before running QuickCam.

  • Page 10: Running Quickcam

    Images Detecting a Camera When you first open the QuickCam application, and after powering up the camera, QuickCam automatically detects all cameras on the network and asks you to set an IP address for each (or accept the suggested default). If you have multiple cameras on your network, ensure you give each one of them a unique IP address.

  • Page 11: Disconnecting And Reconnecting A Camera

    On the Connection tab: Click Connect. The camera should now be connected Toolbar equivalent: Acquiring Images After QuickCam has detected your camera, you can begin grabbing images. To begin grabbing images: Open the Connection tab in the Camera Configuration Window. 03-032-10187-04 DALSA corp.

  • Page 12: Stopping Image Acquisition

    QuickCam User's Manual Under Acquisition Control: Click the Start button. The camera is now grabbing images in continuous mode. From here you can also select whether or not to allow bad and/or incomplete images to be acquired by selecting the Bad image passthrough and Ignore Missing Packets options.

  • Page 13: Restoring Camera Settings

    QuickCam User’s Manul Note: Pixel coefficients are saved separately from other settings. To save camera settings to the camera’s non-volatile memory: Open the Save/Restore tab in the Camera Configuration Window. Beside User Settings: Click Save to Camera. Toolbar equivalent: With the exception of pixel coefficients, the current camera settings are saved to the camera’s non-volatile memory.

  • Page 14: Loading Camera Configuration From An Xml File

    QuickCam User's Manual Toolbar equivalent: A camera script file is created with the specified file properties. Loading Camera Configuration from an XML File You can load camera system settings from a previously saved XML file. This is useful when you want to load the same settings on multiple cameras.

  • Page 15: Saving Images

    QuickCam User’s Manul Select the pixel coefficient set number from the Set Number drop down box. You can save or load up to four different sets of pixel coefficients. Click Reset. The selected pixel coefficient set is now set to zero.
  • Page 16 QuickCam User's Manual From the File menu, select Save Image Output. If this menu option is not available, you are likely still in continuous acquisition mode; stop acquiring (use the Stop button in the Connection tab) and the menu option will be enabled.

  • Page 17: Viewing, Resizing, And Moving The Image

    QuickCam User’s Manul Viewing, Resizing, and Moving the Image 3.1 Viewing an Image After you have detected your camera and started grabbing images, you can view the images in the Image Output Window. Refer to Chapter 1 if you need more information on how to detect a camera and begin grabbing images.

  • Page 18: Zooming In Or Out Of An Image

    QuickCam User's Manual To resize the image: Click the button on the toolbar to fit the image to the size of the Image Output Window. Click the button on the toolbar to view image at its actual size. 3.4 Zooming In or Out of an Image You can "zoom in"...

  • Page 19: Configuring Image Readout

    QuickCam User’s Manul Configuring Image Readout 4.1 Overview: Configuring Image Readout To configure image readout: Open the Readout tab in the Camera Configuration Window. Under Readout: Select the sensitivity mode to use from the Sensitivity Mode dropdown box. For details, see Setting the Camera's Sensitivity Mode.

  • Page 20: Selecting The Camera's Bit Depth

    QuickCam User's Manual Low Sensitivity: The camera uses a single line scan sensor. Tall Pixel: The camera operates using both sensors, creating a 28µm x 14µm pixel. To save the settings to the camera’s nonvolatile memory, click Save Camera Settings.
  • Page 21 QuickCam User’s Manul To save the settings to the camera’s nonvolatile memory, click Save Camera Settings. Notes on Binning • For optimal flat field correction, you should rerun the flat field correction after changing binning values. • Changing binning values does not automatically alter gain, frame rate generation, or other functions of the camera.
  • Page 22 QuickCam User's Manual 03-032-10187-04 DALSA corp.

  • Page 23: Exposure Control

    QuickCam User’s Manul Exposure Control 5.1 Exposure Control Overview: Exposure Control Using the Exposure/GPIO tab in the Camera Configuration Window, you can control the camera’s exposure mode, line rate, and exposure time. To select how you want the camera’s line/frame rate to be generated: In the Exposure Mode dropdown box, first select the camera’s exposure...

  • Page 24: Setting The Camera's Line Rate And Exposure Time

    QuickCam User's Manual Setting the Camera's Line Rate and Exposure Time Depending on the camera’s exposure mode, you can set the camera’s line rate and/or exposure time. These options are grayed out when you are operating the camera in an exposure mode that does not allow you to set these programmatically.

  • Page 25: Gpio Control

    QuickCam User’s Manul GPIO Control The GPIO connector allows the camera to receive (and in some cases output) direct, real-time control signals that are independent of Ethernet communications. Ethernet network protocols introduce a small but measurable and unpredictable lag that does not allow extremely precise and reliable control of camera behavior such as line rate, integration time, and readout direction.

  • Page 26: Gpio Input Labels

    The signals in the GPIO Control Block are defined in the tables below. Inputs to QuickCam are labeled In (where n is an integer from 0 to 7) and outputs are labeled Qn (where n is an integer from 0 to 15).

  • Page 27: Gpio Output Labels

    Camera input 3 GPIO 0 control bit. The control bits are internal to GPIO_CTRL[0] QuickCam and can be controlled by the SDK. GPIO 1 control bit. The control bits are internal to GPIO_CTRL[1] QuickCam and can be controlled by the SDK.
  • Page 28 QuickCam User's Manual Input Signal Label Description the pulse generator is in triggered mode. If available, can be used by one of the following modules: • Rescaler 0 input • Delayer 0 reference signal • Counter 0 clear event input •...

  • Page 29: Gpio Control Block Programming Language

    QuickCam User’s Manul Input Signal Label Description Trigger for an application callback. When the callback is invoked, it provides the following information: • A bit mask of the 8 LUT inputs at the GPIO_IRQ time the interrupt was generated. •...
  • Page 30 QuickCam User's Manual To configure the GPIO Look-Up Table from the user interface or SDK functions, the following language is used: language *( line ) line eol | output ‘=’ combined_expression [ eol ] ‘\r’ | ‘\n’ | "\r\n" | "\n\r"...

  • Page 31: Configuring The Gpio (With Examples)

    QuickCam User’s Manul 6. 3 Configuring the GPIO (With Examples) Overview As was mentioned in the introduction of this chapter, to configure the GPIO, you need to accomplish three main tasks: Step 1 The first step is to select and assign the GPIO connector pins and signal type to use for any necessary inputs or outputs.
  • Page 32 QuickCam User's Manual Step 2 Next you must map the GPIO input number and signal type set on the Exposure/GPIO tab to a GPIO Look-Up Table Input Configuration Label. Step 3 The final step maps the GPIO Look-Up Input Configuration Label to a GPIO Output Configuration Label.
  • Page 33 QuickCam User’s Manul Example: Setting a Simple EXSYNC 1. Assuming you are using a TTL signal, assign GPIO Input 0 to Active Operation, TTL, Pin 1. 2. Click Advanced to open the Configuration dialog box. 3. In the Configuration dialog box, open the Device Features tab.
  • Page 34 QuickCam User's Manual 4. On the Device Features tab, open the GPIO Look-Up tree. 03-032-10187-04 DALSA corp.
  • Page 35 QuickCam User’s Manul 5. In the Input 0 Configuration, map GPIO Input 0 to the Input 0 Configuration label. 6. In the LUT Program text box, enter the equation to map Input 0 Configuration (I0) to Output 4 (Q4) where Output Label = Input Configuration Label.
  • Page 36 QuickCam User's Manual 7. Click Apply. Example: External Sync with Pulse Generator In this example, a variation on the previous one, pulse generators are used to provide a periodic trigger to the camera. The camera uses the signal to receive both the frame rate and the exposure time.

  • Page 37: Gpio Look-Up Table

    The resulting program would look like this: Q4 = I7 6.4 GPIO Look-Up Table The GPIO Look-Up Table tab is used to configure how the QuickCam software handles and redirects inputs and outputs. (This differs from the signals set on 03-032-10187-04...
  • Page 38 QuickCam User's Manual Exposure/GPIO tab where you are setting how the camera handles it physical inputs and outputs.) Input 0 Configuration Selects the input associated with the label IO. This should match the input setting for Input 1 on the Exposure/GPIO tab.

  • Page 39: Pulse Generator

    QuickCam User’s Manul Selects the input associated with the label I4. Input 5 Configuration Selects the input associated with the label I5. Input 6 Configuration Selects the input associated with the label I6. Input 7 Configuration Selects the input associated with the label I7.
  • Page 40 QuickCam User's Manual Pulse Generator 0 to 3 Selects which pulse generator to configure. To view the pulse generator properties, open the directory Width Indicates the number of cycles (also determined by the granularity) that the pulse remains at a high level before falling to a low level.
  • Page 41 QuickCam can generate two internal signals using the internal pulse generators. The behavior of each of these two pulse generators is defined by a delay and a width. As shown in the accompanying diagrams, the delay is the time between the trigger and the pulse transitions.

  • Page 42: Rescaler

    To configure the Rescaler, click the Advanced… button on the Exposure/GPIO tab in the Camera Configuration dialog box and open the Device Features tab. QuickCam has a rescaler module that can be used to rescale a periodic input signal. The signal output is resynchronized based on the rescaler settings.
  • Page 43 QuickCam User’s Manul input signal. If a frequency lies between two different granularity settings, the lowest setting will yield a better precision. The possible values are: 1 PCI clock cycles: The frequency of the input signal is between 509Hz and 33.3MHz.

  • Page 44: Counter

    To configure the Counter, click the Advanced… button on the Exposure/GPIO tab in the Camera Configuration dialog box and open the Device Features tab. QuickCam has general purpose counter module. It simply maintains a count value that can be increased, decreased, or cleared based on input signals. The...
  • Page 45 QuickCam User’s Manul Up Event Specifies how the input for incrementing the count is handled. The counter’s up event uses the Q17 label in the LUT. It can be one of the following settings: • Disabled • On the rising edge •...

  • Page 46: Input Debouncing

    The debouncers make sure that their corresponding inputs filter out bouncing effects. Bouncing is when there are a few very short pulses when the input signal transitions from low to high. Without debouncing, QuickCam may see these small pulses as real signals.

  • Page 47: Gpio Control Bits

    16 GPIO Control Bits, but only 4 are used at the moment. Note that this panel is not meant to be a real-time display of the control bits. The panel uses an internal timer that reads the actual values from QuickCam. 03-032-10187-04...
  • Page 48 QuickCam User's Manual Broadcast When this is enabled, the command to set or clear a GPIO will be broadcast to all cameras on the same network as the currently selected camera. GPIO Control Bits (Write) These check boxes allow the values of the GPIO Control Bits to be modified.

  • Page 49: Gpio Configuration

    QuickCam User’s Manul 6.10 GPIO Configuration Input 0 Configuration Function selection of Input 0 Input 1 Configuration Function selection of Input 1 Input 2 Configuration Function selection of Input 2 Input 3 Configuration Function selection of Input 3 Output 0 Configuration...

  • Page 50: Timestamp Counter

    QuickCam User's Manual 6.11 Timestamp Counter Counter Select Timestamp Counter (default), General Purpose Counter Granularity Indicates the value of each timestamp unit of the timestamp counter. Available values are:480 nanoseconds, 1 microsecond, 100 microseconds, 10 milliseconds Set Mode Indicates how the timestamp module handles the “set event”. Possible values...

  • Page 51: Gpio Interrupts

    QuickCam User’s Manul • 2: Q8 • 3: Q9 • 4: Q10 • 5: Q11 • 6: Q16 • 7: Q17 Broadcast When set to true, the operation is broadcasted to all other devices on the same network as the current device.
  • Page 52 QuickCam User's Manual • Input Source Selection: The delayer does not have a pre-assigned label in the GPIO Look-Up Table (Qn). This parameter is used to select a label that is not used by another GPIO module. The output of the delayer is considered an input for the GPIO Look-Up Table.

  • Page 53: Performing Image Processing

    Figure 1: Analog and Digital Processing Chain Digital Processing Analog Processing analog video digital video analog analog PRNU digital background gain offset coefficients gain subtract digital offset coefficients All of these elements can be set on the Calibration tab of the QuickCam application. 03-032-10187-03 DALSA corp.
  • Page 54 QuickCam User's Manual Analog Processing Optimizing offset performance and gain in the analog domain allows you to achieve a better signal-to-noise ratio and dynamic range than you would achieve by trying to optimize the offset in the digital domain. As a result, perform all analog adjustments prior to any digital adjustments.

  • Page 55: Setting A Region Of Interest

    The line disappears when you begin imaging again. 7.4 Performing Flat Field Correction The QuickCam application has the ability to calculate correction coefficients in order to remove non-uniformity in the image. This video correction operates on a pixel-by-pixel basis and implements a two point correction for each pixel. This...

  • Page 56: Adjusting Analog Gain And Offset

    QuickCam User's Manual The QuickCam application allows you to perform flat field correction easily using the Flat Field Correction Wizard. The wizard steps you through the entire flat field process including setting gains and offsets, as well as calibrating pixel coefficients.

  • Page 57: Adjusting Digital Gain, Offset, And Background Subtract

    QuickCam User’s Manul 7.6 Adjusting Digital Gain, Offset, and Background Subtract If you are performing flat field correction, you should adjust digital settings using the Flat Field Correction Wizard. See Performing Flat Field Correction for details. If necessary, you can set the digital gain, offset, or background separately from other processes.

  • Page 58: Setting Individual Pixel Coefficients

    QuickCam User's Manual Under Pixel Coefficients: Beside FPN Coefficients, check the checkbox to enable coefficients or uncheck the checkbox to disable coefficients. Click Apply. Beside PRNU Coefficients, check the checkbox to enable coefficients or uncheck the checkbox to disable coefficients.

  • Page 59: Loading A Camera Calibration Macro

    QuickCam User’s Manul On the toolbar, click Perform the actions you want to include in the macro. Note: You can pause the recording at anytime by clicking the . To resume recording, click the pause button again. To stop recording your macro, click In the File name box, type a name for the macro.
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  • Page 61: Troubleshooting

    • Verify that your driver is installed properly. To install drivers, follow the procedure described in DALSA QuickCam Documentation DALSA Driver Installation Tool Manual.pdf. • Your Windows Firewall or Personal Firewall may be filtering out packets sent by the camera.

  • Page 62: My Frame Rate Is Lower Than Expected

    Intel Pro/1000 adapter, in lieu of the Intel driver. Solution: Uninstall the Intel Pro/1000 network driver from the adapter and follow the High Performance Driver installation procedure described in DALSA QuickCam Documentation DALSA Driver Installation Tool Manual.pdf. Scenario #3: Windows does not allow you to choose which driver to install; it just automatically picks the regular Intel Pro/1000 driver.

  • Page 63: Example Error Report

    QuickCam User’s Manul In the File name text box, enter a name for the error report. Click Save. After QuickCam creates and saves the error report, the error report is displayed on-screen. Example Error Report 8.5 Troubleshooting: Switching Between Video and Test Patterns You can generate a test pattern to aid in system debugging.

  • Page 64: Troubleshooting: Using The Diagnostics Tab

    QuickCam User's Manual Under Test Pattern: Select the video mode to use from the list in the Camera dropdown box or the Ethernet dropdown box. 8.6 Troubleshooting: Using the Diagnostics Communications and Verify Parameters To quickly verify serial communications, check the Diagnostics tab.
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  • Page 66: Workspace Tour

    Appendix A Workspace Tour QuickCam Application Windows When you first launch QuickCam, the application window opens with the following default windows. You can move and resize these windows as desired. To toggle between displaying and hiding a window, Click Window Window Name.
  • Page 67 QuickCam User’s Manul Connection Tab The Connection tab contains all of the functions for controlling camera connections and acquisition control. Command Purpose Reference Page Number Detect Detects all cameras currently connected. Start Begins the process of acquiring images. Button text changes to Stop during image acquisition and allows you to stop acquiring images.
  • Page 68 QuickCam User's Manual current dynamic acquisition rate. Status Displays the number of acquired images as well as the number of bad images. A large number of bad images is indicative of a set- up or cable problem. Last Error Displays the last error that occurred while acquiring images.
  • Page 69 QuickCam User’s Manul Save Camera Saves the current settings to the camera’s Settings non-volatile memory. 03-032-10187-04 DALSA corp.
  • Page 70 QuickCam User's Manual Calibration Tab The Calibration tab controls all of the camera’s analog and digital settings. Command Purpose Reference Page Number Region of Interest Displays and sets the camera’s region of interest. Sets the region of interest’s starting pixel value.
  • Page 71 QuickCam User’s Manul choose the gain setting. Enabled Enables or disables PRNU coefficients. Pixel Number The pixel number to set. Coefficient Value Sets the PRNU coefficient for the pixel (DN) specified in the Pixel Number field. Apply Applies the PRNU coefficient to the image output.
  • Page 72 QuickCam User's Manual Restore from Camera Set Number Selects the pixel coefficient set to load, save, or reset. Load When clicked, loads the pixel coefficient set displayed in the Set Number dropdown box. Save When clicked, saves the current pixel coefficients to the pixel coefficient set displayed in the Set Number dropdown box.

  • Page 73: Image Output Window

    QuickCam User’s Manul Image Output Window The Camera Output Window displays the camera’s image output. You can move the Camera Output Window anywhere within the program window. Figure 3: Image Output Window displaying 8 Bit Test Pattern Message Window The Message Window provides camera feedback in the following forms:...

  • Page 74: Camera Display Window

    QuickCam User's Manual To display the Network Device Finder, choose Configure Advanced Connection. Figure 4: Network Device Finder Camera Display Window The Camera Display window lists all of the detected cameras on the network. You can also load macros, XML files, acquired images, and other associated files for the currently connected camera.

  • Page 75: Time-Outs & Packets Dialog Box

    PC and an acknowledge packet from the camera. If either of these packets is lost, the behavior of QuickCam remains the same because it does not receive the acknowledge packet. Before issuing a time out error, however, the software will resend the command packet.

  • Page 76: Virtual Serial Port

    The Serial Port Configuration dialog box allows you to attach the serial channel in QuickCam to one port in a serial port pair, whether a physical pair or virtual pair. Therefore, an external application needs simply to connect to the other serial port of the pair to communicate with the camera.
  • Page 77 QuickCam User’s Manul Command Purpose Baud Rate Specifies the speed of the serial communication between the COM port and the camera. Default: 57600. Bits Specifies the data size for the COM port. Parity Specifies the parity of the serial communication between the COM port and the camera.

  • Page 78: Menus

    QuickCam User's Manual Appendix B Menus Menu Bar Commands File Menu Commands Load XML File … Opens the selected camera settings script file. Save XML File … Saves the current camera settings to a script file under the selected name and location.

  • Page 79: View Menu Commands

    QuickCam User’s Manul View Menu Commands Camera Settings Displays all camera settings in text format. Pixel Coefficients Displays all pixel coefficients in text format. Error Report Opens the selected error report. Get Line(s)s Displays average pixel values for selected number of lines and calculates line statistics, including Min, Max, and Mean values for the sample and for each sensor tap.

  • Page 80: Toolbar Commands

    QuickCam User's Manual Toolbar Commands Open an XML camera settings file Save current settings to an XML script file Save current settings to camera’s non-volatile memory Detects all camera’s currently connected to the network Connect or connect currently selected camera...
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  • Page 83: Index

    QuickCam User’s Manul Index Disconnecting a Camera 9 Acquiring Images Acquisition See Image Enabling and Disabling Acquisition Coefficients 12, 55 Analog Error Report Exposure Gain Offset Modes Processing Time Exposure Control Tab Background Subtract Binning File 11, 12 Bit Depth...
  • Page 84 QuickCam User's Manual Region of Interest Setting Image Acquisition Viewing Rescaler Starting Resetting Stopping Image Output Window 71 Pixel Coefficients Resetting Camera Image Processing Resizing the Image Overview Restoring Image Processing Tab Image Readout Tab Camera Settings Running QuickCam Installing QuickCam...
  • Page 85 QuickCam User’s Manul Zooming In or Out of an Image 03-032-10187-04 DALSA corp.

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