38
Falcon2 4M, 8M, and 12M Camera User's Manual
03-032-20107-03
Teledyne DALSA
I ∕
O
Control
Category
for more information.
Set Aspect Ratio
The 4M and 8M m od els of the Falcon2 cam era p rovid e the u ser w ith the ability to sw itch betw een a 1 : 1
and a 4 : 3 sensor asp ect ratio (sensor w id th vs. height (x : y)). Each asp ect ratio m aintains its ow n area of
interest (AOI); therefore, sw itch ing back and forth w ill not change the AOI for a given asp ect ratio.
Ad d itionally, the Asp ect Ratios are centered on the sam e p oint so sw itching w ill not cau se the im age to
m ove significantly.
Pixel Digitization Bit Depth
The Falcon2 cam era allow s the u ser to control the size of the p ixel that is d igitized by the sensor in bits
p er p ixel (i.e. 8, 9 or 10 bp p ). The p ixel size (
pixelSizeInput
)
affects the valu es of the analog g ain, analog
black level, factory calibrated FFC, and color gain. N ote that this is d ifferent than the
PixelFormat
w hich
d efines the size of the p ixel that is ou tp u t from the cam era. Generally increasing the bp p valu e w ill resu lt
in a low er m axim u m fram e rate bu t better d ark noise p erform ance and d ynam ic range.
Exposure Controls
Exp osu re Control mod es d efine the method and tim ing of how to control the sensor integration p eriod .
The integration p eriod is th e amou nt of time the sensor is exp osed to incoming light before the vid eo
frame d ata is tran sm itted to the controlling com p u ter.
Exposure control is defined as the start of exposure and exposure duration.
The start of exposure can be an internal timer signal (free-running mode), an external trigger signal,
or a software function call trigger.
The exposure duration can be programmable (such as the case of an internal timer) or controlled by the
external trigger pulse width.
The Falcon2 cam era can grab im ages in one of three w ays. The three im aging m od es are d eterm ined
u sing a com bination of the Exp osu re Mod e p aram eters (inclu d ing I/ O p aram eters), Exp osu re Tim e and
Fram e Rate p aram eters.
Description
Frame Rate
Exposure Time
Trigger Source
Internal fram e rate and exp osure
tim e
Internal, p rogram m able
Internal p rogram m able
Internal
External fram e rate and exp osu re
tim e
Controlled by external
p u lse
External
External
EXSYN C p u lse controlling the fram e
rate. Program m ed exp osu re tim e.
Controlled by external
p u lse
Internal p rogram m able
External
Figure 12: Exposure controls
Internally Programmable Frame Rate and Internally Programmable Exposure Time (Default)
Fram e rate is the d om inant factor w hen ad ju sting the fram e rate or exp osu re tim e. When setting the
fram e rate, exp osu re tim e w ill d ecrease, if necessary, to accom m od ate the new fram e rate. When
ad ju sting the exp osu re tim e the range is lim ited by the fram e rate.
Note:
The cam era w ill not set fram e p eriod s shorter than the read ou t p eriod .
