Aug 01, 2001 Image Acquisition from Camera Link Cameras
Montreal, Quebec, April 9, 2001--Coreco Imaging, Inc., leading developer of high performance machine vision products, today announced PC-CamLink�, the company�s new industrial frame grabber based on the Camera Link� interface standard for digital cameras. Camera Link is a new industry standard developed to address problems associated with digital cameras, such as high cable costs, short transmission distances, and non-standard interfaces. PC-CamLink combines a half-slot PCI-bus frame grabber, featuring Coreco Imaging�s high speed image transfer architecture, with the new Camera Link standard. Together, they form a flexible interface for line and area scan cameras that supports high-speed, high resolution machine vision applications, such as continuous web inspection, 300mm semiconductor wafer scanning, and surface inspection.
Unique to PC-CamLink is 16 MB of on-board memory for buffering image data between the camera and host PC system. This feature, uncommon to other frame grabbers, allows image transfers over the PCI bus that are up to 10 times faster than competitors. This allows for simultaneous acquisition and processing of data. The on-board memory also assures that image information will not be lost during transfer to system memory.
�It�s exciting to see the vision industry come together to solve long-standing customer issues involving expensive, non-standard cabling,� said Philip Colet, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Coreco Imaging. �Camera Link is rapidly becoming an industry standard for interfacing image acquisition boards with digital cameras. With our PC-CamLink, users benefit from a high performance frame grabber that provides less expensive cabling, real-time signaling, broad bandwidth support of up to 1.75 Gbps, and flexibility for use with any camera that supports the Camera Link specification.�
High Speed Data Transfers
PC-CamLink can acquire 8, 10, 12, or 16-bit monochrome images or 24-bit color images from area and line scan cameras. The board makes interfacing with cameras easy by offering fully programmable timing, and a variety of trigger, strobe, and asynchronous reset options. Based on the high-speed serial LVDS interface developed by National Semiconductor, the on-board Camera Link interface provides a fast, easy-to-use, way to connect to high speed digital cameras. Using Camera Link, a serial interface, as opposed to the previously used parallel designs, pin count, cable diameter, and cable costs are greatly reduced.
Designed for demanding, continuous inspection applications, PC-CamLink provides a number of built-in features that reduce host CPU overhead and maximize sustained image transfer speeds. A unique, �ping-pong� architecture allows the frame grabber to acquire image data at high speed into one section of its on-board memory and, at the same time, transfer data out to the host CPU from another section of memory. This ping-ponging of data guarantees that image information will not be lost during transfer to system memory and allows sustained transfer rates of up to 120 MB/s,something that�s impossible with multimedia-class, FIFO-based frame grabbers.
PC-CamLink can transfer images and Areas of Interest (AOIs) out of memory, at full speed, without the need to write any special code. On-board pixel packing circuitry allows data to be sent in 4:2:2 format enabling non-destructive graphic overlays, such as annotation, windows, and cross-hairs on live images. PC-CamLink also provides additional advanced image manipulation features including programmable X/Y zoom (x2, x4), decimation (2, 4, 8, 16), image transforms (flip, mirror, rotate 180 degrees), and planar transfers of color images. On-board hardware scatter gather optimizes performance, allowing the transfer of large blocks of data to host memory without host CPU intervention.
An �all-in-one� design, PC-CamLink simplifies integration with other parts of the manufacturing process by providing 16 bits of on-board, OPTO-22 compatible digital I/O for controlling or monitoring the status of external events.
Comprehensive Software Support
PC-CamLink is supported by a variety of software tools that combine the industry�s best sub-pixel accuracy with unmatched ease-of-use.
Sherlock 6.0 is a complete, Windows-based machine vision software package that allows users to quickly prototype highly sophisticated vision applications, perform feasibility testing, and execute in real-time, all in a friendly, point-and-click graphical environment�no coding required. MVTools, containing the core machine vision algorithms at the heart of Sherlock, is a complete set of C/C++ software libraries (DLLs) for OEMs who prefer to develop their own custom vision applications. When MVTools and Sherlock are used together, they form a unique machine vision development environment that can save OEMs weeks or months of development time and effort.
For users wanting maximum board control when developing their own applications, Imaging Studio is a complete C/C++ foundation class library that offers a powerful object-oriented API (application program interface) for camera configuration, image acquisition, and data display. Imaging Studio�s robust Interrupt API is the first in the industry to handle user supplied interrupt functions that can be invoked within less than 100 microseconds of an external event. Thus, the software is able to handle demanding real-time applications with minimal impact on available CPU time.
Price & Delivery
The PC-CamLink industrial frame grabber is available immediately. Prices start at $1,350.
About Coreco Imaging
Coreco Imaging, the machine vision powerhouse that resulted from the merger of Coreco and Imaging Technology, is the world�s leading developer of high performance machine vision tools for OEMs, system integrators, and volume end users. The company designs, manufactures, and markets a complete line of hardware and software solutions for the machine vision, medical imaging, and industrial inspection markets. With over 150,000 installations, Coreco Imaging has earned a worldwide reputation for technology leadership and aggressive price/performance. The company�s frame grabbers and embedded vision engines feature such state-of-the-art innovations as ping-pong acquire and hardware scatter gather. Breakthrough software tools provide high speed, high precision pattern recognition despite changes in object/pattern size, orientation, shape, focus, or partial occlusion.
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