User Guide

This chapter describes how to manage the camera parameters.ay

The standard way to manage parameters is via camera configuration dialog. Alternatively, almost all parameters can be set via Python interface. In addition, python script can be used to issue camera commands.

Camera Configuration Dialog

Camera properties dialog can be used for an opened camera.

Note

If a camera fails to open with No permission error: the driver only runs Scorpion GigE and HikRobot cameras.

An example of camera configuration dialog:

Read-Only values will appear grayed.

Apply writes properties to camera and then reads them back. It verifies that a property is accepted by the camera or not. Some values like Width, Height, etc, cannot be changed by Apply, only OK (camera close/open) will change them.

OK will write parameters to the ini file given at the status line and will close the dialog. Afterwards the camera will be closed and reopened, with the new parameters.

Cancel will forget all modifications done while dialog was open, including any of the Apply commands.

Favourites will alternatively display all or just the selected group of parameters. Parameters can be selected by clicking left of their name where a small star will appear, or via context menu.

Load will ask for a ini file name and load parameters from that file. Make sure it is a correct ini file. Best if it is a previously saved ini file, or a default ini file.

Save will ask for a file name and write current set of parameters there. This way a copy of parameters can be made to a separate file, where only this camera, on this particular port will have its data written.

Sample parameterset for monochrome cameras

Below is a sample set of parameters from USB monochrome camera. Other cameras will have similar parameters.

General

Property	Description
DrvVersion	Current version of this driver.

Device Control

Property	Description
DeviceScanType	Scan type of the sensor.
DeviceVendorName	the name of the manufacturer
DeviceModelName	Model name of the device
DeviceManufacturerInfo	additional manufacturer specific information.
DeviceVersion	Version of the device.
DeviceFirmwareVersion	Version of the firmware in the device.
DeviceSerialNumber	Device serial number.
DeviceUserID	User Defined Name.
MaximumDeviceResponseTime	Maximum response time in ms.
DeviceManifestTableAddress	Address of the Manifest Table.
DeviceSBRMAddress	Address of the Technology Specific Bootstrap Register Map.
DeviceTimestamp	Current device time in ns.
DeviceTimestampIncrement	Timestamp increment in ns/tick.
DeviceProtocolEndianess	Endianess of the protocol implementation.
DeviceImplementationEndianess	Endianess of the device implementation.
DeviceUptime	Time of Device boot.
DeviceConnectionStatus	Indicates the status of the specified Connection.
DeviceCommandTimeout	Indicates the command timeout of the specified Link.
DeviceTemperatureSelector	Selects the location within the device, where the temperature will be measured.
DeviceTemperature	Device temperature in degrees Celcius (C).
DeviceMaxThroughput	Indicates max data in bits from the camera each second.

Image Format Control

Property	Description
WidthMax	Maximum width of the image (in pixels).
HeightMax	Maximum height of the image (in pixels).
RegionSelector	Selects the Region of interest to control.
Width	Width of the image provided by the device (in pixels).
Height	Height of the image provided by the device (in pixels).
OffsetX	Vertical offset from the origin to the AOI (in pixels).
OffsetY	Horizontal offset from the origin to the AOI (in pixels).
ReverseX	Flip horizontally the image sent by the device.
PixelFormat	Format of the pixel data.
PixelSize	Size of a pixel in bits.
TestPatternGeneratorSelector	Selects which test pattern generator is controlled by the TestPattern feature.
TestPattern	Selects the type of test pattern that is generated by the device as image source.
DecimationHorizontal	Horizontal sub-sampling of the image.
DecimationVertical	Vertical sub-sampling of the image.
FrameSpecInfoSelector	Selects the frame-specific information.
FrameSpecInfo	the frame-specific information.

Acquisition Control

Property	Description
AcquisitionBurstFrameCount	Number of frames to acquire for each FrameBurstStart trigger.
AcquisitionFrameRate	Controls the acquisition rate at which the frames are captured.
AcquisitionFrameRateEnable	Enables manual control of the camera frame rate.
ResultingFrameRate	Indicates the maximum allowed frame acquisition rate (in fps) given the current AOI, exposure and bandwidth
TriggerSelector	Selects the type of trigger to configure.
TriggerMode	Controls whether or not the selected trigger is active.
TriggerSource	Specifies the internal signal or physical input line to use as the trigger source.
TriggerDelay	Specifies the delay (in us) to apply after the trigger reception before activating it.
TriggerCacheEnable	Specifies whether or not the Trigger Cache is enabled.
ExposureMode	Sets the operation mode of the Exposure (or shutter).
ExposureTime	Exposure time in us when Exposure Mode is Timed.
ExposureAuto	Sets the automatic exposure mode when Exposure Mode is Timed.
AutoExposureTimeLowerLimit	Lower limit of the Auto Exposure Time parameter
AutoExposureTimeUpperLimit	Upper limit of the Auto Exposure Time parameter

Analog Control

Property	Description
Gain	Gain applied to the image in dB
GainAuto	Sets the automatic gain control (AGC) mode.
AutoGainLowerLimit	Lower limit of the Auto Gain parameter
AutoGainUpperLimit	Upper limit of the Auto Gain parameter
DigitalShift	Sets the value of the selected digital shift control
DigitalShiftEnable	Enables/disables DigitalShift adjustment.
Brightness	Sets the value of the selected Brightness control
BlackLevel	Analog black level in percent.
BlackLevelEnable	Enables/disables black level adjustment.
Gamma	Controls the gamma correction of pixel intensity.
GammaSelector
GammaEnable	Enables/disables gamma correction.
AutoFunctionAOISelector	Selects the Auto Function AOI.
AutoFunctionAOIWidth	Sets the width of the auto function area of interest in pixels
AutoFunctionAOIHeight	Sets the height of the auto function area of interest in pixels
AutoFunctionAOIOffsetX	Sets the starting column of the auto function area of interest in pixels
AutoFunctionAOIOffsetY	Sets the starting line of the auto function area of interest in pixels
AutoFunctionAOIUsageIntensity

Digital IO Control

Property	Description
Line0_LineMode	Controls whether the physical Line is used to Input or Output a signal.
Line0_LineStatus	Returns the current status of the selected input or output Line.
Line0_LineStatusAll	Returns the current status of all available Line signals at time of polling in a single bitfield.
Line0_LineDebouncerTime	Sets the value of the selected line debouncer time in us.
Line1_LineMode	Same as Line0
Line1_LineInverter	Controls the inversion of the signal of the selected or output line.
Line1_LineStatus	Same as Line0
Line1_LineStatusAll	Same as Line0
Line1_LineSource	Selects which internal acquisition or I/O source signal to output on the selected line.
Line1_StrobeEnable	Enables the strobe signal to be output to the selected line.
Line1_StrobeLineDuration	Sets the value of the selected Strobe Line Duration in us.
Line1_StrobeLineDelay	Sets the value of the selected Strobe Line Delay in us.
Line1_StrobeLinePreDelay	Sets the value of the selected Strobe Line PreDelay in us.
Line2_LineMode	Same as Line0
Line2_LineStatus	Same as Line0
Line2_LineStatusAll	Same as Line0
Line2_LineDebouncerTime	Same as Line0

Counter And Timer Control

Property	Description
CounterSelector	Selects which Counter to configure.
CounterEventSource	Select the events that will be the source to increment the Counter.
CounterResetSource	Selects the signals that will be the source to reset the Counter.
CounterValue	Reads or writes the current value of the selected Counter.
CounterCurrentValue	Reads the value of the selected Counter.

Transport Layer Control

Property	Description
PayloadSize	Number of bytes transferred for each image or chunk on the stream channel.
GenCPVersionMajor	Major version of the specification.
GenCPVersionMinor	Minor version of the specification.
U3VVersionMajor	Major version of USB3 Vision.
U3VVersionMinor	Minor version of USB3 Vision.
U3VCPSIRMAvailable	Set if the device supports at least one device streaming interface.
U3VCPEIRMAvailable	Set if the device supports at least one device event interface.
U3VCPIIDC2Available	Set if the device supports IIDC2 register map.
U3VMaxCommandTransferLength	Specifies the maximum supported command length of the device in bytes.
U3VMaxAcknowledgeTransferLength	Specifies the maximum supported acknowledge length of the device in bytes.
U3VNumberOfStreamChannels	Specifies the number of Stream Channels. 0, if no stream channel is supported
U3VSIRMAddress	Address of the first Streaming Interface Register Map.
U3VSIRMLength	Specifies the length of each SIRM.
U3VCurrentSpeed	Specifies the current speed of the USB link.

Stream Control

Property	Description
U3VSIPayloadTransferSize	the size of regular payload bulk transfers.
U3VSIPayloadTransferCount	the number of regular payload data bulk transfers.
U3VSIPayloadFinalTransfer1Size	the size of the Final Transfer 1 payload bulk transfer.
U3VSIPayloadFinalTransfer2Size	the size of the Final Transfer 2 payload bulk transfer.

Ini file management

Ini file contains camera parameters that will be applied to the camera when it is opened. These parameters will be displayed in Camera Configuration Dialog.

One ini file can contain settings for several cameras.

Ini file can be saved or loaded explicitly. An alternative file in a different location can be used, if necessary.

Internal structure of ini file

Ini file is a standard Windows ini file. With [sections] and name=value for parameters.

Settings for each camera will go under separate sections. Section names are made after port number, assigned to the camera. Thus it is possible to have the same camera with different settings, under different ports, and switch back and forth quickly. Camera model is written in each section, it allows only cameras of the same model to reuse existing settings.

If different camera is asigned to the port, all previous settings are ignored at first, and later they will be overwritten with the new camera’s settings.

Default and Alternative ini files

Default ini file is hvgrab.ini, it is located in ~profile/hardware folder. Normally it will be used for loading and saving.

An alternative ini file can be specified by using python script. The subsequent Load or Save will use this new ini file.

Note

Although it can be done at any time, in order to use certain settings, like Width or Height, the alternative ini file must be specified before camera open.

To specify an alternative ini file before camera open:

activate BeforeCameraOpen event in Scorpion Actions

put a script there:

GetCamera("0").executeCmd('set', 'IniFile=path_and_name_of_alternative_ini_file')

Loading and Saving of ini file

The normal flow of events is this:

The ini file is read when camera is opening.
The settings are then applied to the camera.
If ini file is not available, some default settings are assigned to the camera.
If user later opens Camera Configuration dialog, and closes it with OK, the new or updated settings will be written into the ini file, to be used on the next camera open.

Alternatively, it is possible to explicitly save camera settings at any time, by using python script. All active settings will be written into ini file. The same or different file can be used. The save command will write settings of the specified camera only, under the section made from the port number.

Camera settings can also be loaded from a file (reloaded or imported from different location). The file must contain a section that is named after the same port the camera is using. After Ini file loading or importing settings will be applied to the camera, except for Width, Height, etc.

Note: all specified folders (relative or absolute) must exist.

Examples of setting ini file name

cam= GetCamera("0")

# set alternative ini file
cam.executeCmd('set', 'IniFile=c:\hw\alt.ini')   # absolute path to a new location
cam.executeCmd('set', 'IniFile=backup.ini')      # a file in default location ~profile/hardware
cam.executeCmd('set', 'IniFile=bck\hvgrab.ini')  # relative path : ~profile/hardware/bck/hvgrab.ini

# reset to default ini file
cam.executeCmd('set', 'IniFile=')
cam.executeCmd('set', 'IniFile=DefaultIniFile')

Query active and default ini files

cam= GetCamera("0")

#find out name of the default ini file
nameOfDefaultFile = cam.executeCmd('get', 'DefaultIniFile')  # returns 'hvgrab.ini'

#find out name of the active ini file
nameOfActiveFile  = cam.executeCmd('get', 'ActiveIniFile')   #
#    returns 'hvgrab.ini' or alternative, if set prior to this

Examples of saving

cam= GetCamera("0")
cam.executeCmd('save', '' )                  # save settings to the active inifile
cam.executeCmd('save', 'ActiveIniFile' )     # save settings to the active inifile
cam.executeCmd('save', 'DefaultIniFile' )    # save to the default (hvgrab.ini in ~profile/hardware)
cam.executeCmd('save', full_path_and_name)   # save settings to the specified file
cam.executeCmd('save', rel_path_and_name)    # save settings to the file under ~profile/hardware

Examples of loading or importing

cam= GetCamera("0")
cam.executeCmd('load', '' )                  # load settings from the active inifile
cam.executeCmd('load', 'ActiveIniFile' )     # load settings from the active inifile
cam.executeCmd('load', 'DefaultIniFile' )    # load settings from the default inifile
cam.executeCmd('load', full_path_and_name)   # load settings from the specified file
cam.executeCmd('load', rel_path_and_name)    # load settings from the file under ~profile/hardware

Color Correction

Color Correction Matrix

Some cameras support Color Correction for the grabbed images. The parameters will be provided in a separate ColorTransformationControl section, if available.

Either Color Transformation Matrix (CCM) or Hue/Saturation can be used for color correction, but not both at the same time.

If CCM is active, it is applied by the formula, for each point of the image:

Note

ColorTransformationEnable parameter is reversed compared to what is provided by MVS (suspected bug in MVS v3.4).

Bayer Color Conversion

Some cameras (e.g. CU series) provide only 8bit Bayer encoded color stream, which has to be converted into 24bit color.

Please note, Bayer 8bit stream has monochrome flags, therefore driver will output monochrome images for CU cameras, by default. Use ForceColorMode parameter to explicitly specify color output.

To enhance the default conversion to color the following parameters can be used from ImageFormatControl section:

Parameter	Description
UseBayerGamma	Enable BayerGamma parameter
BayerGamma	Gamma value for Bayer8/10/12/16 -> RGB24 conversion, range 0.1 .. 4.0
UseBayerCvtQuality	Enable BayerCvtQuality parameter
BayerCvtQuality	Set the bell interpolation quality parameter for Bayer8/10/12/16 -> RGB24 conversion: 0-Fast 1-Equilibrium 2-Optimal
UseBayerMatrix	Enable BayerMatrixScale and BayerMatrixRow0/1/2 parameters
BayerMatrixScale	Quantitative scale of color correction matrix. Values of integer power of 2, up to 65536
BayerMatrixRow0	3x3 Color correction matrix elements. Values: -65536 .. +65536. Each row must contain 3 integers, e.g. ‘1 0 0’
BayerMatrixRow1	see above
BayerMatrixRow2	see above

Note

The parameters above are set only once immediately after camera open, therefore they are not available from python script.

Note

For CU cameras please set ForceColorMode parameter from General section to color.

Frame statistics

In order to troubleshoot image acquisition the driver provides MVS camera stats:

FrameNumber
FrameDevTimeStampHigh
FrameDevTimeStampLow
FrameHostTimeStamp
FrameSecondCount
FrameCycleCount
FrameCycleOffset
FrameTriggerIndex
FrameLostPacket

cam= GetCamera("0")

print "Current frame num=", cam.executeCmd('get', 'FrameNumber')

high=cam.executeCmd('get', 'FrameDevTimeStampHigh')
low= cam.executeCmd('get', 'FrameDevTimeStampLow')
print "Current timestamp=",high, ".", low

Note

After image is passed to Scorpion, the driver clears the buffer (makes it black). This excludes repeating images fom the driver. Use frame stats to troubleshoot any problems with missing or delayed images.

Continous or SingleFrame mode

There are three parameters to consider:

continous grab mode in Scorpion:
```
cam= GetCamera("0")

#start continous mode
cam.setProperty('continous', 1)

#stop continous mode
cam.setProperty('continous', 0)
```
This feature is present in all Scorpion versions. It instructs camera to send all available images (either triggered or via freerun) to Scorpion.

If not in continous mode, each image needs to be requested (via Snapshot or ‘Grab’ command).
AcquisitionMode camera parameter.

Possible values are SingleFrame or Continuous.

To get one or more frames the camera must start acquisition, and stop it aftewards. SingleFrame gets just one image in between start/stop acquisition. Continuous is the opposite - many images after acquisition is started.

Starting and stopping acquisition gives an overhead. It is undesirable in faster framerates. If camera runs in Continuous and Scorpion is not, the unrequested images will be dropped, consuming the bandwith and distorting frame counters. Also, if camera has relatively low fps there may be a delay for the next image - depending on Scorpion’s framerate.

To mitigate this :
- run both Scorpion and camera in Continuous
- use triggers (or software triggers) for image acquisition. Triggers can be used with Continuous mode too.
SyncContinousMode camera parameter from the General section.

If true, this will set camera’s AcquisitionMode according to Scorpion continuous mode:
- When Scorpion enters continous, the AcquisitionMode is set to continuous too.
- When Scorpion leaves continous, the AcquisitionMode is set to SingleFrame.

Note

Usage suggestions:

Continuous mode gives the minimum overhead and it must be used when the goal is to achieve high or maximum fps.
If frame stats are used, the camera must not issue non requested images: it must be SingleFrame or triggered. Or both camera and Scorpion in continuous mode.
Using SyncContinousMode = true may be a good shortcut in most cases.

Action Command

Action command is a camera image trigger over tcp/ip by PTP protocol.

Note

Not all cameras support Action Command. Look for Action Control section in camera settings.

First set up ActionDeviceKey, ActionGroupMask and ActionGroupKey parameters in Action Control section.

Then issue a python command ActionCommand with parameters.

Parameter	Default value	Description
key	1	Corresponds to ActionDeviceKey from camera settings
group	1	Corresponds to ActionGroupKey from camera settings
groupmask	1	Corresponds to ActionGroupMask from camera settings
ip	255.255.255.255	Target address - send to all cameras. To send to a particular subnet only, use e.g. 169.254.255.255 for subnet 169.254.0.0/255.255.0.0. Or specify exact IP address.
time	0	Command delay. Current cameras do not support other than 0.

If default value is used, the parameter can be omitted.

An example of usage:

cam= GetCamera("0")

#send Action command to all reachable cameras. Use default parameters.
cam.executeCmd('set', 'ActionCommand')

#send Action command to all reachable cameras with key=2
cam.executeCmd('set', 'ActionCommand={ key=2 }

#send Action command to a given subnet, key=2, group/mask are default values (=1)
cam.executeCmd('set','ActionCommand= {key=2; ip=169.254.255.255}')

Note

Monitor camera console for ActionCommand error messages.

Possible error messages in case of failure:

Command is not supported by the device
The device is not synchronized to a master clock to be used as time reference
A device queue or packet data has overflowed
The requested scheduled action command was requested at a time that is already past

Setting properties using Python

All camera properties available in configuration dialog can also be accessed by using Python.

In addition, camera register values can be set or retrieved, thus allowing access to full camera configuration. Register number as string is presented instead of property name and is prefixed with 0x. Register numbers can be found in camera documentation.

With setProperty/getProperty only long values can be accessed. Use executeCmd to set values of any type.

Property names are not case sensitive.

Setting width/height properties

cam= GetCamera("0")

#set width
cam.executeCmd('set', 'width=1600')

# print image height
print 'height=', cam.executeCmd('get', 'height')

Setting camera TriggerMode properties

cam= GetCamera("0")
# toggle hw trigger on off
cam.executeCmd('set','TriggerMode=On')   # enables trigger mode
cam.executeCmd('set','TriggerMode=Off')   # disable trigger mode

Setting camera TriggerSource using executeCmd

cam= GetCamera("0")
# change trigger source. 'Line0' - get value from selection dropbox in config dialog
cam.executeCmd('set','TriggerSource=Line0')

# change trigger source. 'Software' - get value from selection dropbox in config dialog
cam.executeCmd('set','TriggerSource=Software')

# change trigger mode. 'ON'|'OFF' - get value from selection dropbox in config dialog
cam.executeCmd('set','TriggerMode=OFF')

Setting camera AquisitionMode - SingleFrame stops aquisition

cam= GetCamera("0")

# start image aquisition - not in SoftwareTrigger or SoftwareTrigger mode
cam.executeCmd('set','AcquisitionMode=Continuous')
print cam.executeCmd('get','AcquisitionMode')

# stop image aquisition
cam.executeCmd('set','AcquisitionMode=SingleFrame')
print cam.executeCmd('get','AcquisitionMode')

Python only properties

Some properties are available only via python script. Some properties are actually commands.

Cmd	Parameter	Description
get/set	LogDebugView	output level to DbgView, [0..3]
get/set	LogLevel	output level to Scorpion console
get/set	Continous	boolean (1 or 0), video stream continuous mode, passing all frames to Scorpion regardless of grab command
set	Reset or DeviceReset	performs camera reset, see note below
set	FeatureSave	invoke MVS API function MV_CC_FeatureSave. Will write into a file given as an argument to executeCmd. File will be located in ‘Hardware’ folder
set	FeatureLoad	invoke MVS API function MV_CC_FeatureLoad.
set	UserSetLoad	load previously saved parameter set from camera (0..3). This is as provided by camera functionality.
set	UserSetSave	save current parameter set into camera (0..3). This is as provided by camera functionality.
set	UserSetDefault	change current camera default parameter set. As provided by camera.
set	SoftwareTrigger	execute software trigger
set	ActionCommand	Trigger cameras by PTP protocol, see Action command description.
get	FrameNumber	Current frame number
get	FrameDevTimeStampHigh	Frame timestamp high 32 bits
get	FrameDevTimeStampLow	Frame timestamp low 32 bits
get	FrameHostTimeStamp	Frame Host-generated timestamp
get	FrameSecondCount	Frame second count
get	FrameCycleCount	Frame cycle count
get	FrameCycleOffset	Frame offset of Cycle
get	FrameTriggerIndex	Frame trigger counting
get	FrameLostPacket	Frame lost packet number for this frame
set	IniFile	specify ini file to be used as the main ini file. The default will not be used. Must be called before camera open.
get	ActiveIniFile	get currently used ini file path, see Ini File Management
get	DefaultIniFile	get default ini file path, see Ini File Management
save	ini file name or empty	save to a new or default ini, see Ini File Management
load	ini file name or empty	load from ini file, see Ini File Management

Camera DeviceReset

cam= GetCamera("0")
#device reset, see note below
cam.executeCmd('set','DeviceReset=1')   # value 1 or any other is not import here

Note

Device Reset may take a long time on some of the HvGrab cameras. While relatively quick on USB cameras, on some GigE cameras may take up to several minutes.

Set camera parameters Before Camera Open

cam= GetCamera("0")
#Use alternative ini file. Must be called before camera open
cam.executeCmd('set', 'IniFile=v:/common/dark.ini')
print "The default ini file is", cam.executeCmd('get', 'DefaultIniFile')
print "The active ini file is", cam.executeCmd('get', 'ActiveIniFile')

Export and Import Camera parameters to file

#Export or import parameters
GetCamera('0').executeCmd('set', 'ExportIni=c:/data/exported.ini')
GetCamera('0').executeCmd('set', 'ImportIni=v:/common/tester.ini')