Basler Pioneer User Manual page 58

Software and Hardware Installation
Exposure Time:
The exposure time setting determines the time interval during which the sensor is exposed to light.
Choose an exposure time setting that takes account of whether you want to acquire images of
still or moving objects:
If the object is not moving, you can choose a high exposure time setting (i.e., a long
exposure interval).
Note that high exposure time settings may reduce the camera's maximum allowed
acquisition frame rate and may cause artifacts to appear in the image.
If the object is moving, choose a low exposure time setting to prevent motion blur. As a
general rule, choose a short enough exposure time to make sure that the image of the
object does not move by more than one pixel during exposure.
Gain:
Gain amplifies each pixel readout by a certain factor. Accordingly, signal and noise are both
amplified.
Note that it is not possible to improve the signal-to-noise ratio by increasing gain.
You can increase the contrast in the image by increasing the camera's gain setting.
Increasing gain will increase the image brightness.
Unless your application requires extreme contrast, make sure that detail remains visible in the
brightest portions of the image when increasing gain. Note also that noise is increased by in-
creasing gain.
Set the gain only as high as is necessary.
Contrast:
Strong contrast in an image is obtained when objects of different brightnesses are represented by
strongly different grey values. For most applications, optimum contrast is achieved when the image
displays a wide range of gray values with fine detail remaining visible even in the darkest and
brightest parts of an image. Some applications, however, may require extreme contrast.
You can increase the contrast in the image by increasing the camera's gain setting. Gain
amplifies the pixel readout.
High black level settings will prevent high contrast. We recommend not using black level
settings above 64 (at greater than 8 bit output).
In images acquired from CCD sensors, contrast can be destroyed by local over-saturation
(blooming) if the image brightness is too high. You can decrease the proneness for smear and
blooming by choosing a diffuse and less intense illumination.
Closing the lens aperture not only decreases image brightness but also increases contrast
towards the edges of an image.
If you must use insufficient illumination resulting in dark images, you may notice the blurring
influence of noise. If you operate the camera near the high end of its specified temperature
range, the effects may be particularly noticeable. You can increase contrast by lowering the
operating temperature of the camera.
48 Basler pioneer