1. Manuals
  2. Brands
  3. MallinCam Manuals
  4. Security Camera
  5. SDI Camera
  6. User manual

MallinCam SDI Camera User Manual

Hide thumbs
Table of Contents

Advertisement

Quick Links

Download this manual
MALLINCAM SDI Camera
[Version 1.0]
Michael Burns
Rock Mallin

Revision History

[
MALLINCAM SDI User Manual
This document will introduce you to the wonders of the MallinCam SDI Camera. It will
include instructions on how to connect the Mallincam SDI to your computer along
with explanations of the camera's various settings. Imaging techniques with the
various hardware and software options will be covered along with how to broadcast
the output of the Mallincam SDI camera on the Internet. The standard Composite
Video output will be discussed along with hints and suggestions on how to resolve any
problems that you encounter with this camera. Enjoy the adventure with Rock Mallin's
Mallincam SDI Video camera, which will introduce you to the amazing field of Real
Time Mallincam SDI video imaging and broadcasting.
SDI User Manual
Revision Sheet
]
Page i

Advertisement

Table of Contents
loading
Need help?

Need help?

Do you have a question about the SDI Camera and is the answer not in the manual?

Questions and answers

Related Manuals for MallinCam SDI Camera

Summary of Contents for MallinCam SDI Camera

  • Page 1: Revision History

    Revision History MALLINCAM SDI User Manual This document will introduce you to the wonders of the MallinCam SDI Camera. It will include instructions on how to connect the Mallincam SDI to your computer along with explanations of the camera’s various settings. Imaging techniques with the various hardware and software options will be covered along with how to broadcast the output of the Mallincam SDI camera on the Internet.
  • Page 2 Revision Sheet Version Date Revision Description 11/16/2014 Template Creation for MALLINCAM SDI Camera SDI User Manual Page ii...

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    The MALLINCAM SDI Camera (Connection Diagram) ............7 Composite Video ........................... 7 SDI Video .............................. 8 Power ..............................8 Connecting the MALLINCAM SDI to your Computer for Video........9 Composite Video: ..........................9 Software Requirements: ........................9 Hardware Requirements ........................9 Attaching the Video Cable to MALLINCAM SDI Camera .............
  • Page 4 MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 BACKLIGHT ............................. 23 BLC .............................23 HLC .............................24 DAY&NIGHT ............................ 24 MODE ............................25 IR-LED ............................26 ANTI-SAT..........................26 EXTERN S/W..........................26 AGC THRES ..........................26 AGC MARGIN...........................26 DELAY ............................26 WHITE BAL ............................27 AUTO ............................27 AUTOext .............................27 PRESET ............................28...
  • Page 5 Appendix E – First Aid for the Mallincam SDI ..............52 The Image from the MALLINCAM SDI is jumping all over the place ..........52 When I have my Video Software connect to my Mallincam through my MCV-1 adapter I only see a Blue screen............................52 Appendix F –...

  • Page 6: Introduction

    HD-SDI format along with standard quality video for non-broadcast needs. The Mallincam SDI camera uses a true HD sensor and SDI Digital output for unsurpassed image quality. At 2.1 MP sensor, the all Ceramic Panasonic Sensor use the latest in Technology offered by Panasonic using the new 1/3 Inch 2.1 MP...

  • Page 7: The Contents Of The Mallincam Sdi Package

    Video camera to your telescope, power it using to a 120V AC power source, and displaying your image on any device that accepts analog or SDI video. See the Appendix for a list of other accessories available for the Mallincam SDI Camera. SDI User Manual...

  • Page 8: The Camera (Just The Facts)

    MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 The Camera (Just the Facts) The MallinCam SDI Camera is a video camera that provides near Real Time images of brighter Deep Sky Objects, Planetary, Lunar, and Solar. This instrument contains the following specifications:...

  • Page 9: The Camera (Its Anatomy)

    November 11, 2014 The Camera (its Anatomy) The Mallincam SDI camera is a rectangular based camera with a rear connection ports for power, video and communications and a front c-mount opening. It is 4” long by 2.5” tall and 2.5” wide. The camera weighs in at about 11 ounces (290 grams).

  • Page 10: Making Connections

    ④ ③ The MallinCam SDI provides two video outputs: Composite and SDI both of which utilize a BNC connector. Since composite and SDI signals are different formats, with HD-SDI packing a lot of data, different types of video cable are recommended.

  • Page 11: Sdi Video

    This locks the connector to the cable. Power The Mallincam SDI camera requires 12V 1amp power either from an AC to DC converter or 12V DC power supply. Just connect the two power connect cables into the matching two Power Input plugs on the back of the Mallincam SDI. The other end plugs into the Power In connecter on the end of the 10m cable on the included Mallincam dual power/video cable.

  • Page 12: Connecting The Mallincam Sdi To Your Computer For Video

    Skies Network (NSN)) if that will be a direction you are thinking of taking. Hardware Requirements  A USB Video Capture Device, such as MallinCam’s MCV. This device will allow the output from the MALLINCAM SDI (composite) to be captured and displayed by the software (see Installing the MCV in Appendix).

  • Page 13: Attaching The Video Cable To Mallincam Sdi Camera

    Now all we need to do is start the video display software of your choice to display the image. Remember what ever software choice you made to display the image from the Mallincam SDI Camera, it will have an option that allows you to choose the Video Capture Adapter’s driver (x2828 for MCV). Once you chosen the driver, you should now see an image of what the Mallincam SDI Camera is capturing in the video window of your software.

  • Page 14: Operating The Mallincam Sdi

    November 11, 2014 3. Operating the MALLINCAM SDI Now is the time to do a quick check of the MALLINCAM SDI Camera to see if you can obtain a video signal. This walk through assumes you have a monitor with a Composite input capabilities (or a Laptop with a Video Capture Device attached and configured along with Video Display Software).
  • Page 15 Note: There are two ways of fine tuning the brightness, contrast of the image. The first is using the SDI Camera Menu settings, and the second is using the brightness and contrast controls on your monitor (or software controls in your video capture software) the camera.
  • Page 16 You should now recognize how easy it is to move through the Menu system of the Mallincam SDI. Now is a good time to review the detailed explanations of the on screen selections. Don’t be afraid to experiment to see how a specific control affect your image.

  • Page 17: The Mallincam Sdi Camera Osd Settings

    MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 The MALLINCAM SDI Camera OSD Settings The following table will guide you in locating a specific OSD or On Screen Display image control. Once you get the hang of locating the settings, it will be worth your time to peruse the Chapter Understanding the OSD to get a deeper comprehension how the adjustments will affect your image.
  • Page 18 MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 Menu Choice Sub Menu FOCUS ADJ NORMAL DEBLUR INDOOR LENS OUTDOOR DEBLUR BRIGHTNESS 0 to 20 AUTO 1/60000, 1/30000, 1/16000, 1/8000, 1/4000, MANUAL SHUTTER 1/2000, 1/1000, 1/500, 1/240, 1/120, 1/60, EXPOSURE 1/30 FLICKER...
  • Page 19 MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 D-ZOOM 1.0x TO 8.0x in steps of 0.1 MIDDLE HIGH AUTO MODE MANUAL DEFOG LEVEL MIDDLE HIGH SHADING WEIGHT 0% to 100% ZONE NUM 0 TO 15 ZONE DISP H-POS 0 to 60...

  • Page 20: Understanding The Osd

    On Screen Display (OSD) Menu The following are a more detailed explanation on what function each control in the MALLINCAM SDI Camera performs. Remember use the suggested values as a guide, as your seeing conditions will dictate how the settings need to be set.

  • Page 21: Lens

    MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 LENS This setting allows you to set the LENS to one of two adjustments for controlling the electronic exposure: ELC (Electronic Light Control)  ALC (Auto Level Control)  We recommend using ELC at NORMAL...

  • Page 22: Alc

    MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 Since the SDI is used with a fixed lens (the telescope), the ALC command will not affect the image. The ALC command provides you with 3 Options: INDOOR Not used astronomy applications. OUTDOOR Not used astronomy applications.

  • Page 23: Exposure

    MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 EXPOSURE This command allows you to control all aspects of the Exposure. From here you can adjust the: BRIGHTNESS  SHUTTER  SENS-UP   BRIGHTNESS This control allow you to adjust the Brightness of the image.

  • Page 24: Auto

    MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 AUTO The AUTO setting allows the Mallincam SDI to automatically make adjustments to the shutter speed to provide what it believes is the best setting. MANUAL The MANUAL mode in the SHUTTER setting allows you to adjust the speed thus giving you more control.

  • Page 25: Sens-Up

    MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 SENS-UP SENS-UP acts as a Digital Slow Shutter. It will enhance the available like by increase the exposure by a range of factors. The available Ranges are:      ...

  • Page 26: Backlight

    BACKLIGHT to ON will help provide a clear image of both the background and the object. No real application for this control in the field of astronomy. The Mallincam SDI provide you set types of Backlight compensation functions:  BLC (Back Light Compensation) ...

  • Page 27: Hlc

    MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 This High Light Compensation control helps control or mask a bright light source. The bright source will be masked with black when HLC is operating. You are presented with a sub-menu that allows you to make finer adjustments to this control.

  • Page 28: Mode

     MODE The MODE control allows you to set the SDI to COLOR, or B&W (Black and White). The Mallincam SDI also has an AUTO setting which will switch between the COLOR and B&W Mode according to light conditions. There is also an EXTERN setting which is not active in this camera.

  • Page 29: Ir-Led

    MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 IR-LED Not available on the Mallincam SDI ANTI-SAT. This control runs in conjunction with the IR-Led, but since this Mallincam SDI doesn’t have IR LED’s, then this control does affect the image (unless looking at an IR source).

  • Page 30: White Bal

    MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 WHITE BAL The White Balance Control allows the SDI to adjust the colour temperature (how vivid the colours are). The SDI needs to determine a reference colour temperature (colour of light source) so that it can determine the other colours on the screen.

  • Page 31: Preset

    MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 PRESET This controls sets the White Balance to the current conditions value and keeps it there. Select this setting and your will see the image adjust colours at it determine the colour temperature. Press the Enter Button to set the image to this color.

  • Page 32: Dnr

    MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 Digital Noise Reduction is a control on the SDI that improves the image quality by filtering out the noise which is generated under low light conditions. This control provides 4 possible settings: ...

  • Page 33: Sharpness

    MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 SHARPNESS This control affect the image sharpness. You have a range from 0 to10 with 10 being the most aggressive. Too high a value may introduce noise in the image. GAMMA This control changes the Gamma Curve of the SDI.

  • Page 34: D-Zoom

    MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 D-ZOOM This control, the Digital Zoom allows you to digitally zoom into the image. You have the ability to linearly zoom from 1.0x the original image size to 8.0x the image size is steps of 0.1...

  • Page 35: Shading

    MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 SHADING This control helps reduce the brightness difference between the centre of the image and the edges of the image. When activated (set to ON), you will be presented with a sub-menu in which you...

  • Page 36: Sensitivity

    MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 SENSITIVITY Set the range (from 0 to 20) of sensitivity, the smaller the number the more sensitive the SDI WINDOW TONE This sets up the size of the detection zone borders. You can choose from 0 to 6 as the TONE size.

  • Page 37: Motion Osd

    Choices are ON or OFF. ALARM This control is not activated on the SDI. SYSTEMING The SYSTEMING control is where so set the parameters for using the Mallincam SDI. You can modify the following settings:  IMAGE RANGE ...

  • Page 38: Com

    OUTPUT MODE This control set the SDI Video Output resolution that is used on the SDI Video port on the Mallincam SDI Camera. Set this value to match the SDI input device that you are using. The available choices are: 1080P ...

  • Page 39: Monitor

    CVSB This control sets the Video Output Standard. In North America we use NTSC, but the SDI camera can be set to PAL for our European friends/ LANGUAGE This control sets the Language that the OSD uses to display information. Choose the language of your preference.

  • Page 40: Colorbar

    SDI is outputting a signal through the video port without imaging anything. RESET This control will reset the Mallincam SDI back to factory default settings. Press the RESET Button until the SDI displays PUSHING. The setting are then set to factory defaults.

  • Page 41: Appendix

    64 bit, all run windows 7. I have not encountered any problems installing this way. Do some pre-planning to minimize frustration that may occur when Windows gets a bit temperamental. I use both the MallinCam MALLINCAM SDI and the Note...
  • Page 42 MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 Step 2 Insert the MCV-1 or MCV-1e Remember the USB port you choose for the MCV; you will always use this USB port for the MCV.  The Windows will find new hardware and will attempt to load drivers. It will most likely fail on one driver.
  • Page 43 It is always a good idea to check out the MCV-1e to see if it is running correctly after you have done a first time installation.  Start the Image software that you will using to display your MALLINCAM SDI Video image such as: AmpCap, SharpCap, VirtualDub,..) ...

  • Page 44: Appendix B Connecting To Night Skies Network

    Advertisements, but it has some amazing extras such as the ability to change Video Input from Svideo to composite, a must if you use MallinCam’s MCV device with a variety of cameras. Plug in the MALLINCAM SDI camera into a USB Port (MCV) on your computer.
  • Page 45 Step 3 Have Manycam/ Splitcam/WebcamMax Choose your Video Driver as the Source Once connected, you should have the image of what the MALLINCAM SDI is looking at inside the Window of the software. If you are using a Note third party Video Display Software then have Manycam / Splitcam / WebcamMax choose Desktop Capture as the source.
  • Page 46 MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 Log into Night Skies Network (NSN) Step 6 Have your Web Brower go to the location: http://www.nightskiesnetwork.com/ . Locate and click on the BROADCASTERS AND MEMBERS SIGN IN button. The next Login screen...
  • Page 47 MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 Turn off your Microphone Step 8 Until you have your microphone figured out, it is best to initially turn it off. If you do not, the viewers on NSN may hear a loud buzzing (feedback noise). Later on we will look at...
  • Page 48 MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014  CLICK on the Settings choice and you will be presented with the Adobe Flash Player Settings Window.  CLICK on the Camera Icon and you will be presented with a pull down menu select your camera.
  • Page 49 That’s it, you are done. If everything is working well and the Window’s gods are in a good mood, you should be broadcasting whatever object the MALLINCAM SDI is capturing. You should now enter another Message and SEND it out to indicate what system you are using and what object you are viewing.
  • Page 50 MCV’s image output or by using the Options Tab thus allowing you to change the brightness contrast, sharpness over and above what the MALLINCAM SDI camera does. Since I place Splitcam on its own monitor (the second monitor), I can make it full screen to see all the detail, while my fist monitor has the NSN connection screen with its preview and chat window.

  • Page 51: Appendix C - Connecting Serial To Mallincam Sdi

    RS485 port on the Mallincam SDI. Once that path is create, you can then control the camera thru software (I create a simple piece of software to do this. See below).

  • Page 52: What To Do

    Connect a wire from the Gnd of the adapter to the Gnd of the SDI All you need now is a suitable piece of software to control the Mallincam SDI. If you visit the Mallincam Site, Rock will be providing a link to the free piece of software.

  • Page 53: Appendix D - Displaying Sdi On Your Computer

    This product is plug-and-play, so all you need to do is plug in the dongle, it will install what it need automatically (like every USB device). Then you can use the product.  Simply connect a SDI cable from the SDI port on the Mallincam to the SDI input on the Magewell.

  • Page 54: Blackmagic Ultrastudio Sdi

     Connect the USB3 Cable from the Ultrastudio to a USB2 Port on the Computer  Connect the SDI cable from the back of the Mallincam to the SDI IN on the Ultrastudio  Start the Video Software of your choice, such as AMCAP ...

  • Page 55: Appendix E - First Aid For The Mallincam Sdi

    The MCV-1 or other adapters can have multiple video input connections. For example the MCV-1 has both composite and S- video. The cause of this symptom is that MallinCam is looking at one of those input ports, while the camera is sending the image through the other.

  • Page 56: Appendix F - Settings Template

    MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 Appendix F – Settings Template Menu Parameter Setting Comments 1. LENS NORMAL 2. Exposure BRIGHTNESS This gives wiggle room SHUTTER Manual at 1/2000 Starting point, depends on object SENSE UP Not used in Manual Shutter This gives wiggle room 3.

  • Page 57: Appendix G - Notes

    MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 Menu Parameter Setting Comments 1. LENS 2. Exposure BRIGHTNESS SHUTTER SENSE UP 3. DNR SETTING 4. IMAGE SHARPNESS GAMMA COLOR GAIN 5. Day & Night D&N Mode 6. White Balance AUTO AUTOext MANUAL 7.
  • Page 58 MALLINCAM SDI User Manual November 11, 2014 _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ SDI User Manual Page 55...

Table of Contents