Frame Sync Starts - FLIR A6000 Series User Manual

5 –Camera Controller
The Frame Sync Starts pulldown shows the following options: Integration or Readout:

5.4.2.2 Frame Sync Starts

The camera makes use of frame syncs and triggers to control the generation of image data. Frame
syncs control the start of individual frames, whereas triggers start sequences of frames.
The generation of a frame consists of two phases: integration and data readout. Depending on the
timing between these two events, you can have two basic integration modes: Integrate Then Read
(ITR) and Integrate While Read (IWR). In ITR, integration and data readout occur sequentially. The
complete frame time is the combined total of the integration time plus readout time. In IWR, the
integration phase of the current frame occurs during the readout phase of the previous frame. In
other words, ITR and IWR terms refer to whether or not the camera will overlap the data readout and
integration periods. In ITR, the data is not overlapped which means lower frame rates but provides a
less noisy image. IWR can achieve much faster frame rates with a slight increase in noise. The
camera does not require the user to explicitly choose whether to operate in ITR or IWR modes. The
camera will automatically select the integration mode based on the integration time, frame rate, and
frame sync mode.
The camera supports two Frame Sync Modes: Frame Sync Starts Integration (FSSI), and Frame Sync
Starts Readout (FSSR). FSSI and FSSR determine which phase of the frame generation process
(integration or data readout) is synchronized to the frame sync. FSSI starts the integration period
when a frame sync occurs (i.e. "take a picture now"). The camera automatically calculates when to
start data readout. FSSR starts the data readout (for the previous frame) when a frame sync occurs
(i.e. "give me data now"). The camera automatically calculates when to start integration for the
current frame. In FSSI mode, the camera could be in either ITR or IWR mode. In FSSR mode, the
camera is always in IWR mode.
NOTE: When the camera is continuously imaging (i.e. internal sync mode), there is essentially no
difference between FSSI and FSSR. In some cases FSSR may allow faster frame rates. However,
FSSR may not be appropriate for external sync applications where the camera is stopped for
extended periods because when syncs are restarted the first frame may be very old.
A6000 and A8500 Series User's Manual
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