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CAMERA LINK Q-2A340 Operating And Users Manual

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Operating and user manual
QUARTZ SERIES
CAMERA LINK MODELS

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Summary of Contents for CAMERA LINK Q-2A340

  • Page 1 Operating and user manual QUARTZ SERIES CAMERA LINK MODELS...
  • Page 2 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES...
  • Page 3 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES About Adimec Adimec is the leading supplier of high-performance digital camera modules and camera-lens assemblies for use in three market segments: machine vision, medical imaging, and applications for government purposes such as traffic and defense systems. In developing our products as a partner to major OEMs around the world, we utilize the synergy between these segments to shine in terms of image quality, speed, dynamic range and reliability.

  • Page 4: Table Of Contents

    OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ series Contents GENERAL INTRODUCTION Product Highlights About this manual Standards PRECAUTIONS Safety precautions Handling INSTALLATION HARDWARE Electrical interface - CoaXPress Electrical interface - strobe and trigger LED indicators Quick start FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION Block diagram CONTROL OF THE CAMERA Introduction CoaXPress and GenICam Structure of camera control CAMERA IDENTIFICATION AND CONTROL...
  • Page 5 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES...

  • Page 6: General Introduction

    In this manual we use the following standard symbols in the left margin to draw your attention: Command syntax Return message NOTE Practical tip or note Standards Camera Link – Specification of Camera Link Interface Standard for Digital Cameras and Frame Grabbers – Version 2.0 - Februari 2012.
  • Page 7 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Liability Adimec puts in a lot of effort in preparing this manual. Please inform your Adimec Business Office of any inaccuracies or omissions. Adimec Advanced Image Systems B.V. cannot be held responsible for any technical or typographical errors and reserves the right to make changes to the product and manuals without prior notice.

  • Page 8: Precautions

    OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Precautions NOTE: It is advised to include the text of this chapter in the assembly documents of the system in which the camera is used. A CMOS sensor camera is a sensitive device. Please read the following precautions carefully before you continue unpacking or operating the camera.
  • Page 9 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Precautions: • Take precautions to prevent ESD that can damage the CMOS sensor. • Cleaning of the CMOS sensor, and assembly of the lens is preferably performed in a clean room or clean bench. •...
  • Page 10 2.2.7. Mounting / Mechanical Connectors Take care during handling of the camera. The Camera Link connector and the power connector should not be damaged. The maximum tightening torque for the Camera Link connector may not exceed 0.26 Nm. Prevent the entry of foreign objects or dirt into the connectors, as this will result in unreliable operation or damage.
  • Page 11 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES...

  • Page 12: Electrical Interface - Strobe And Trigger

    • Hirose type HR10A-7R-6PB(74) Figure 3.1: Camera male power connector FUNCTION 10.2 to 13.8 Vdc Not Connected Table 3.1: Power pin configuration. Q-2A340 Q-4A150 Q-4A180 Q-12A65 <8 W <8 W <8 W < 8 W Table 3.2: Power consumption @ 12 Volt.
  • Page 13 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Chassis part • Hirose type HR10A-7R-4SB(74) Figure 3.2: Camera female I/O connector PIN NO. SIGNAL NAME DIRECTION LEVEL AT THE PIN Trigger in Input 10..20 mA Anode of optocoupler Flash strobe out Output Open collector of optocoupler Trigger return Input Isolated gnd...
  • Page 14 Electrical interface - Video and Data. The Camera Link interface is designed to connect the camera to a frame grabber in order to transfer video to the grabber as well as control data from the grabber to the camera. The maximum cable length is 10 meter, for a 85MHz interface however 5 meter is recommended.

  • Page 15: Quick Start

    Quick start • Mount a lens on the camera and adjust the iris for F5.6. • Connect the Camera Link cables to the camera and frame grabber. • Boot up the PC and start the frame grabber application. • Connect the power cable to the camera and power up the camera with 12 Vdc.

  • Page 16: Functional Description

    Block diagram The diagram below shows the main functional blocks of the Quartz cameras. Exposure Defect pixel Modes Correction Frame Camera Link Test pattern Averaging Interface Flat field Format Binning Correction...
  • Page 17 The video data is mapped to the Camera Link ports. The output resolution can be set to 8 bit or 10 bit by user command. The output format can be set by user command.

  • Page 18: Control Of The Camera

    Communication protocol The camera is controlled by a host system connected to the Camera Link interface using the serial communication link of the Camera Link. Commands and resulting data are transferred between the host system and the camera by means of a communication protocol.
  • Page 19 Camera Link interface standard 5.3.1. Introduction Without getting into detail on the Camera Link standard, this section discusses the mechanics of the serial communication channel. Available Camera Link serial software enhancements in the form of Dynamic Link Library files will greatly simplify the setup of a communication channel.
  • Page 20 AIA member companies. Figure 5.1: Mechanics of communication per Camera link serial channel Features Provided by clserial.dll • Simultaneous, multi-port (including cross vendor) support • Support for binary or text based data transfers •...
  • Page 21 .dll files will be loaded and clserial.dll will manage passing the application calls to the appropriate .dll for the application specified port. Further details can be found in the Camera Link – Specification of Camera Link Interface Standard for Digital Cameras and Frame Grabbers – Version 2.0 - Februari 2012.
  • Page 22 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Managing camera settings This chapter describes the individual camera functions and settings. The specific commands and their effect on the camera operation are described in detail. Command parameters All commands are composed of a command keyword and the required parameters for that specific command.
  • Page 23 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Camera identification string The camera identification string is stored in the camera and can be read with the ID? command. Command format: ID? Return Message:“Q-2A340x/CL S/N:yyyyyy “Q-4A150x/CL S/N:yyyyyy “Q-4A180x/CL S/N:yyyyyy “Q-12A65x/CL S/N:yyyyyy where x indicate the type CAMERA TYPE Monochrome Color...
  • Page 24 Get the built-in self test status code ERR? Get the last error result Get temperature In the tables below, the distinction is made between 2 Camera Link clock frequencies 66MHz and 85MHz. This frequency is controllable with the CLC command (see section 9.5.4).
  • Page 25 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Camera Settings and User Data commands SYNTAX DESCRIPTION DEFAULT VALUE CLC2 CLC3 (66 MHZ) (85 MHZ) Load the factory default camera settings Save all current settings as camera power up settings Load the camera power up settings Save a user-defined signed integer USI? Recall a user-defined signed integer...
  • Page 26 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Strobe commands SYNTAX DESCRIPTION DEFAULT VALUE CLC2 CLC3 (66 MHZ) (85 MHZ) Enable flash strobe FSE? get flash strobe status Set flash strobe polarity FSP? Get flash strobe polarity Set flash strobe mode FSM? Get flash strobe mode Set flash output timing 0;2500...
  • Page 27 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Post Processing and Output commands SYNTAX DESCRIPTION DEFAULT VALUE CLC2 CLC3 (66 MHZ) (85 MHZ) Set the black level (monochrome only) Get the black level (monochrome only) Set pixelclock speed CLC? Get pixelclock speed Set output offset (color only) OFS? Set output offset (color only)
  • Page 28 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES User Calibration and Correction commands SYNTAX DESCRIPTION DEFAULT VALUE CLC2 CLC3 (66 MHZ) (85 MHZ) CCFFSEL Set flat field input selection CCFFSEL? Get flat field input selection Add defect pixel to the defect pixel list Get defect pixel info from defect pixel list Clear defect pixel list Set defect pixel correction on / off...
  • Page 29 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES...

  • Page 30: Modes Of Operation

    NOTE: If either LVALgap or FVALgap does not meet the required time to output a video line at the Camera Link output, the set value will be increased automatically to the minimum valid value. See also Chapter 7.2 Continuous mode for further elaboration.
  • Page 31 To prevent buffer memory overflow, the request mode must be set to 0 (images are output immediately after acquisition). Also, the frame speed must be chosen lower than, or equal to the speed that can be handled by the Camera Link interface. The camera link interface speed is dependent of five parameters: •...
  • Page 32 Table 7.5: Q-12A65 max framespeed Maximum frame speeds at different Camera Link interfaces in continuous mode for maximal resolution. Control mode Three control modes are possible in the camera. If the Request mode is set to output the images immediately after acquisition (RQM0) and the acquisition trigger rate does not exceed the rate at which the CameraLink Interface configuration can output the images, the camera outputs the images normally.

  • Page 33: Image Acquisition (Icategory: Acquisitioncontrol)

    1 µs. The minimum allowed value for x is 1 and the maximum value allowed for x is 100000 (= 100 ms). The sensor design dictates a minimum integration time, Imin. This is not included in the ITx command and will be added to that set value. Q-2A340 Q-4A150 Q-4A180 Q-12A65 12 µs...
  • Page 34 1µs. The minimum allowed value for x depends on various parameters (Camera Link configuration, ROI) but is at least 150, the maximum allowed value for x is 100,000 (= 100 ms).
  • Page 35 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES To be able to handle glitches on possible heavily disturbed external trigger signals, a deglitch circuit can be activated. This deglitch circuit will prevent short glitches to be interpreted as trigger signals. The sensitivity of the deglitch circuit can be programmed by the DGLT command Command Syntax: DGLTx Command Syntax:...
  • Page 36 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES FSM=0 (Auto) Sensor reset Sensor read delay * 1 µs active Flash strobe Figure 7.1: Timing diagram strobe output (auto mode). If x is set to 1 the strobe will operate in programmed mode; both delay time after a sensor reset as well as the duration of the active state is programmed.
  • Page 37 Images are output immediately after acquisition. If acquisition takes place at a speed that the Camera Link interface can manage (e.g. at 8-Taps 85MHz at 4Mp this is 167 fps or slower) the FIFO will not fill up and cause a delay.
  • Page 38 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES 7.6.3. Request image output In RQM2 and RQM3, image transmission is initiated by the Request image command (or a pulse, configurable with CCREQ). Command format: RQ 7.6.4. Image request trigger selection If the camera is configured to output the images on a request pulse, the input used for applying this pulse is selected by command: Command format: CCREQx;y Command format:...
  • Page 39 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES If value 1 is returned, the buffer reached the overflow status. Images present in memory can no longer be retrieved (the number of images in memory is reset to 0). A Flush Buffer command clears the overflow error status.

  • Page 40: Defect Pixel Correction (Icategory: Defectpixel)

    OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Calibrations, processing and corrections Defect pixel correction commands 8.1.1. Introduction In Quartz series cameras defect pixels are corrected in real time. Adimec does not release cameras with more than 1 adjecent defect pixel upon delivery. However, additional defect pixes can be user-programmed.
  • Page 41 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES 8.1.3. Add a defect pixel to the defect pixel list Defect pixel correction is maintained by a defect pixel list. An additional defect pixel can be added to this list by means of the DP command. Command format: DPx;y Return Message: x;y Where x and y are the origin (1, 1) base coordinates of the defect pixel.

  • Page 42: Black Level Control

    OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Where n indicates the defect pixel test mode according to the following table: DEFECT PIXEL TEST MODE Test mode disabled, normal image input Mark defects white on video Mark defects black on video Show defects as white on black background Black level control Because there are no reference black pixels in the sensor design, there is no ability to continuously maintain a certain black level.
  • Page 43 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Flat field correction 8.3.1. Introduction The pixels of the CMOS sensor show offset and gain variations in their response to light. In the Quartz cameras, these deviations are per-pixel corrected for. • The offset correction is referred to as dark field correction. •...
  • Page 44 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES NOTE: The selected set also determines which set is used during gain calibration (FFCAL3). If n=0, the selection is hardware controlled by 2 input signals. The routing of the 2 signals is selected by command CCFFSEL. NOTE: If n=0, FFCAL3 results in FFERR 110;...
  • Page 45 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES 8.3.6. Flat field calibration status The status of a pending calibration can be queried by issuing command: Command format: FFSTA? Return Message: Where x indicates the status according to the following table: CALIBRATION STATUS Done Full dark field offset calibration pending Incremental dark field offset calibration pending...
  • Page 46 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES 8.3.8. Flat field minimum and maximum video levels During global gain flat field calibration (FFCAL), the minimum and maximum video levels are measured and stored. These video level values can be queried by command: Command format: FFMINMAX? Return Message: x;y...
  • Page 47 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Bright scene Start Automatic exposure adjustment? Enable automatic exp adjustment: Dark scene FFP102;1 Tune video level between 50-1023 Set target exp level between (x) Start darkfield 50-1023: FFP103;x calibration: FFCAL1* Select local (x=0) or global (x=1) brightfield correction: FFP101;x Calibration done:...
  • Page 48 Image data formatting Introduction The video-processing, which translates the sensor signal to the digital Camera Link output can be configured. It is possible to select the number of bits on the output, there is the possibility to set a digital gain and there is a possibility to change the output offset. Horizontal and vertical mirror can be applied on demand.
  • Page 49 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Q-12A65: Analog gain value unity gain NOTE: By default the factory flat field correction set stored in the camera is done at unity gain. This set is not valid after switching the PGA, recalibration of the flat field correction is required. 9.2.3.
  • Page 50 8 or 10, indicating number of bits. NOTE: The 3, 8 and 10 tap Camera Link formats only supports 8 bit pixel resolution. If the camera is operated in eirther 3, 8 or 10 tap Camera Link configuration, the output resolution (OR) is pushed to 8 bit.
  • Page 51 80 pixels (10 tap is not available in the Q-4A150). As a result, the maximum obtainable horizontal resolution will be 2000 pixels in 10 tap and 2016 pixels in 3 tap for the Q-2A340 and Q-4A180, for the Q-12A65 this is 4080 pixels.
  • Page 52 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Although the binned pixel value is represented as integer value, the decimal places are tracked internally and will be accounted for when digital gain is applied. By applying digital gain while binning, the result can be considered as an increased sensitivity without missing codes.
  • Page 53 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES HiQ mode - Image averaging The camera is able to average a number of images before they are output over the interface. Averaging N images reduces the temporal noise and increases the signal to noise ratio by a factor √N. The averaging of images can be enabled by command AVG.
  • Page 54 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Pixel reset Pixel sample Vhigh Vlow3 Vlow2 Vlow1 Exposure kneepoint 2 Exposure kneepoint 1 Total exposure time Pixel with bright illumination Pixel with low illumination Figure 9.2: multislope principle Saturation level Kneepoint 1 Kneepoint 2 # of electrons Figure 9.3: multislope response curve...
  • Page 55 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES 9.4.2. Set number of slopes The number of multislopes is set witht he MS command. Command format: Command format: Return message: x can be 1, 2 of 3 and represents the number of slopes. For x = 1, the multislope functionality is disabled (single slope).
  • Page 56 ROI command. At full resolution the Image Width equals 2048 or 4096 pixels (2000 or 4080 at 10 tap Camera Link configuration). The number of taps is programmed by the first parameter of the OFRM command. Expressed in seconds the active time can be calculated with the formula in figure 9.2.
  • Page 57 Figure 9.4: Timing diagram Camera Link. Example At full resolutiona Q4A180 camera (2048x2048) in 8_taps at 85MHz t ACTIVE will equal 2048/(8x85MHz) = 3.01us. If Lval gap is at 2, t GAP will be 2/85MHz = 23.5 ns.
  • Page 58 This re-adjusted value is not represented by the OFRM? command. NOTE: The 8 and 10 tap Camera Link formats only supports 8 bit pixel resolution. If the camera is operated in eirther 8 or 10 tap Camera Link configuration, the output resolution (OR) is pushed to 8 bit.
  • Page 59 9.6.6. Ten tap Camera Link output format In addition to the 2, 4 and 8 tap Camera Link configurations, a 10 tap output architecture can be selected. Refer to chapter 11 for more information on the 10 tap implementation. Command format: TTFx...

  • Page 60: Service And Maintenance

    OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Service and maintenance 10.1 Camera status commands 10.1.1. Built-in test The built-in test command returns the basic status of the camera. Command format: BIT? Return Message: x Where x indicates the addition of the actual error codes: CODE DESCRIPTION All tests are passed...
  • Page 61 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES necessary to obtain the error result after each command. However to increase the reliability of the whole system (camera + host system), it is good practice to check each command by obtaining the error result or use a query command to obtain the value of the last setting performed and check whether the setting is actually done.
  • Page 62 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Figure 10.1: Representation of the test pattern gray levels The exact gray levels, expressed in 10 bit output, are as presented on the next page. For 8 bit output resolution the values are truncated as follows: 10 BIT 8 BIT 1023...
  • Page 63 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES NOTE: that the ROI function does not cut-out a part of the test pattern, but the test image is reshaped: • The gradient objects are centered in the ROI-output-image, size and distance remain the same, •...
  • Page 64 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES Gray patches x = W/2 - 255 y = H/2 -127 1021 1022 1023 Size of each patch: 8H x 16V Figure 10.5: Middle section grey patches illustration Bottom gray bars x = W/2 – 255 Horizontal center y = H/2 + 170 Figure 10.6:...
  • Page 65 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES 10.2.3. Image tagging Image overlay Each image can be tagged with a frame counter. Depending on the OVL command setting, this information can be either overlaying the actual video data or added as an extra video line. The frame counter value is represented by the grey level value of 4 pixels.
  • Page 66 OPERATING AND USER MANUAL QUARTZ SERIES...

This manual is also suitable for:

Q-12a65Q-4a150Q-4a180

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