Image Format Control
    • 10 Jun 2024
    • 9 Minutes to read
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    Image Format Control

    • PDF

    Article summary

    The parameters of this group describe how to influence and determine the image size and format. It also provides the necessary information to acquire and to display the image data. It assumes that the device has a source of data that generates a single rectangular image. This image can be entirely or partially streamed out of the device using one or many Region of interest (ROI).

    Image is taken from SFNC 2.4 p. 109

    The sensor provides Sensor Width pixels.

    The parameters ReverseX can be used to flip the image along the X-axis. The flipping is done before the Region of interest is applied.

    Within the shrunk image the user can set a Region of interest using the parameters OffsetX, Width, and Height. The resulting image has Width time Height pixels. OffsetX refers to the upper left corner of the image which has the coordinate (0, 0).

    The parameters Region Selector and Region Mode can be used to select and control each Region individually. All measures are given in pixel. As a result, the values should not change if the Pixel Format changes. For monochrome cameras, each pixel corresponds to a single gray value.

    For color cameras in RGB mode each pixel corresponds to one RGB triplet.

    The parameter Height describes the height of the image in lines.

    Sensor Width

    Name

    SensorWidth

    Standard

    Description

    Effective width of the sensor in pixels.

    Interface

    Integer

    Access mode

    Read only

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    -

    Value range

    Depends on the built-in sensor.

    Default value

    1

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    -

    Error behavior

    -

    Sensor Height

    Name

    SensorHeight

    Standard

    Description

    Effective height of the sensor in pixels.

    Interface

    Integer

    Access mode

    Read only

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    -

    Value range

    1

    Default value

    1

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    -

    Error behavior

    -

    Sensor Color Filter

    Name

    SensorColorType

    Custom

    Description

    Specifies the sensor color filter.

    Interface

    Enumeration

    Access mode

    Read only

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    -

    Value range

    See enum entry table below.

    Default value

    -

    Availability

    -

    Notes

    Only the display name is changed to sensor color filter for backward compatibility.

    Error behavior

    -

    Sensor Color Filter Enum Entries:

    Name

    Description

    White

    White

    RGBW

    Red, Green, Blue and White

    RGBWIr

    Red, Green, Blue, White and Infrared

    RGBIr

    Red, Green, Blue and Infrared

    Width Max

    Name

    WidthMax

    Standard

    Description

    Maximum width of the image (in pixels). The dimension is calculated after horizontal binning, decimation or any other function changing the horizontal dimensions of the image.

    Interface

    Integer

    Access mode

    Read only

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    -

    Value range

    >0

    Default value

    SensorWidth

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    -

    Error behavior

    -

    Height Max

    Name

    HeightMax

    Standard

    Description

    Maximum height of the image (in pixels). This dimension is calculated after vertical binning, decimation or any other function changing the vertical dimensions of the image.

    Interface

    Integer

    Access mode

    Read only

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    -

    Value range

    >0

    Default value

    -

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    The maximum height is 1015811 lines.

    Error behavior

    -

    Region Selector

    Name

    RegionSelector

    Standard

    Description

    Selects the Region of interest to control.

    Interface

    Enumeration

    Access mode

    Read/Write

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    -

    Value range

    See enum entry table below.

    Default value

    -

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    -

    Error behavior

    -

    Region Selector Enum Entries:

    Name

    Description

    Region1

    Selected feature will control the region 1

    Region2

    Selected feature will control the region 2. For ax_dsxge only.

    Region Mode

    Name

    RegionMode[RegionSelector]

    Standard

    Description

    Controls whether the selected Region of interest is active and streaming.

    Interface

    Enumeration

    Access mode

    Read/Write

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    No

    Value range

    See enum entry table below.

    Default value

    -

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    -

    Error behavior

    See the device error code documentation.

    Region Mode Enum Entries:

    Name

    Description

    Off

    Disable usage of the Region. For ax_dsxge only

    On

    Enable usage of the Region.

    Width

    Name

    Width[RegionSelector]

    Standard

    Description

    Width of the Image provided by the device (in pixels).

    Interface

    Integer

    Access mode

    Read/Write

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    No

    Value range

    [128 , Width Max]

    Default value

    WidthMax

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    The width value must be a multiple of eight for RGB.

    Error behavior

    See the device error code documentation.

    Height

    Name

    Height[RegionSelector]

    Standard

    Description

    Height of the Image provided by the device (in pixels).

    Interface

    Integer

    Access mode

    Read/Write

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    No

    Value range

    [16 , Height Max]

    Default value

    1024

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    This parameter influences the value range of AcquisitionFrameRate. Please read the AcquisitionFrameRate feature documentation for further details.

    Error behavior

    See the device error code documentation.

    Offset X

    Name

    OffsetX[RegionSelector]

    Standard

    Description

    Horizontal offset from the origin to the region of interest (in pixels).

    Interface

    Integer

    Access mode

    Read/Write

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    No

    Value range

    ≥0

    Default value

    0

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    -

    Error behavior

    See the device error code documentation.

    Sensor Region Offset X

    Name

    SensorRegionOffsetX[RegionSelector]

    Custom

    Description

    Horizontal offset from the origin to the region of interest in sensor coordinates (pixels).

    Interface

    Integer

    Access mode

    Read only

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    No

    Value range

    ≥0

    Default value

    0

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    The display name is just Sensor Offset X.

    Error behavior

    See the device error code documentation.

    Sensor Region Width

    Name

    SensorRegionWidth[RegionSelector]

    Custom

    Description

    Width of the selected region of interest in sensor coordinates (in pixels).

    Interface

    Integer

    Access mode

    Read only

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    No

    Value range

    ≥0

    Default value

    0

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    The display name is just Sensor Width. The feature resides below the Region Selector. There is a SensorWidth feature defining the sensor’s full width which resides in the top level of the image format control category.

    Error behavior

    See the device error code documentation.

    Binning Horizontal

    Name

    BinningHorizontal

    Standard

    Description

    Number of horizontal photo-sensitive cells to combine. This increases the intensity (or signal-to-noise ratio) of the pixels and reduces the horizontal resolution (width) of the image.

    Interface

    Integer

    Access mode

    Read/Write

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    No

    Value range

    Variant

    Value Range

    ax_X

    1,2,4,8,16

    g8_X

    1,2,4,8,16

    Default value

    1 – Indicates that no horizontal binning is performed by the camera.

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    If you change this parameter, the Region OffsetX and Width is scaled according to the binning value.
    Please check these parameters after adapting Binning Horizontal.

    When Width is changed, the maximum BinningHorizontal value may be reduced and limited to that value. This is done to ensure that Width value doesn’t go below the minimum width value.

    Error behavior

    See the device error code documentation.

    Decimation Horizontal Float

    Name

    DecimationHorizontalFloat

    Custom

    Description

    This is the same feature as DecimationHorizontal as defined in the SFNC. However, it supports float values for decimation.

    Horizontal sub-sampling of the image. This reduces the horizontal resolution (width) of the image by the specified horizontal decimation factor.

    Interface

    Float

    Access mode

    Read/Write

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    Yes

    Value range

    [0.5 , 3.999]

    Default value

    1.0

    Availability

    g8_X

    Notes

    A value of 1 indicates that the camera performs no horizontal decimation.

    If you change this parameter, the Region OffsetX and Width are scaled according to the decimation value. Please check these parameters after adapting Decimation Horizontal.

    When Width is changed, the maximum DecimationHorizontalFloat value may be reduced and limited to that value. This is done to ensure that Width value doesn’t go below the minimum width value.

    Error behavior

    See the device error code documentation.

    Reverse X

    Name

    ReverseX

    Standard

    Description

    Flip the image sent by the device horizontally.

    Interface

    Boolean

    Access mode

    Read/Write

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    No

    Value range

    True  – Horizontally flipped image

    False – Normal Image

    Default value

    False

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    This feature is effective only if Test Pattern is set to Off.

    Error behavior

    -

    Pixel Format

    Name

    PixelFormat

    Standard

    Description

    Format of the pixels provided by the device. It represents all the information provided by PixelSize, PixelColorFilter combined in a single feature.

    Interface

    Enumeration

    Access mode

    Read/Write

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    No

    Value range

    See enum entry table below.

    Default value

    Variant

    Value

    Color Camera

    RGB8

    Mono Camera

    Mono8

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    -

    Error behavior

    See the device error code documentation.

    Pixel Format Enum Entries:

    Name

    Availability

    Description

    Mono8

    ALL

    8 bits per pixel Mono

    Mono10

    X_cxp, X_dxge,

    p6_nxge

    10 bits per pixel Mono unpacked

    Mono12

    X_cxp,

    X_dxge,

    p6_nxge

    12 bits per pixel Mono unpacked

    RGB8

    ALL

    24 bits per pixel RGB linear memory

    RGB10

    X_cxp,

    X_dxge,

    p6_nxge

    RGB at 10bit unpacked

    RGB12

    X_cxp,

    X_dxge,

    p6_nxge

    RGB at 12bit unpacked

    RGB10p32

    -

    32-bits per pixel RGB format. The bit depth is 10-bits. Please check the PFNC (Pixel Format Naming Convention) for more details – Not available for g8_dxge packages!

    BGR8

    X_dxge
    ax_dsxge

    24 bits per pixel BGR linear memory

    RGBa8

    g8_X,

    p6_nxge

    32 bits per pixel RGBa linear memory. Component ‘a’ contains Infrared (Ir) or White(W).

    RGBa10

    g8_X,

    p6_nxge

    RGBa at 10bit unpacked. Component ‘a’ contains Infrared (Ir) or White(W).

    RGBa12

    g8_X,

    p6_nxge

    RGBa at 12bit unpacked. Component ‘a’ contains Infrared (Ir) or White(W).

    Pixel Color Filter

    Name

    PixelColorFilter

    Standard

    Description

    Selects the type of color filter that is applied to an image.

    Interface

    Enumeration

    Access mode

    Read/Write

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    No

    Value range

    See enum entry table below.

    Default value

    Variant

    Value

    ax_X

    RGB

    g8_X

    RGBIr

    p6_nxge

    RGBIr

    p16_cxp

    RGBIr

    ALL (Mono Camera)

    White

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    For mono cameras the pixel color filter will be White only.

    Error behavior

    See the device error code documentation.

    Pixel Color Filter Enum Entries:

    Name

    Availability

    Description

    RGB

    ax_X

    Three color planes RGB at the sensor is selected

    RGBIr

    g8_X,

    p6_nxge, p16_cxp

    Four color planes RGB and Infrared at the sensor is selected. Infrared is transmitted as component ‘a’ in the pixel format RGBa8, RGBa10 and RGBa12.

    RGBW

    p6_nxge, p16_cxp

    Four color planes RGB and White at the sensor is selected. White is transmitted as component ‘a’ in the pixel format RGBa8, RGBa10 and RGBa12.

    White

    g8_X

    Only White plane at the sensor is selected

    Infoblock Mode

    Name

    InfoBlockMode

    Standard

    Description

    The info block can be enabled for the first line, for each line or for first and each line.

    Interface

    Enumeration

    Access mode

    Read/Write

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    Yes

    Value range

    Enum entries table below.

    Default value

    Infoblock off

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    So far not all entries are working. There may be even differences between variants of allPIXAevo.

    Error behavior

    none

    Info block Mode Entries:

    Name

    Description

    Off

    No info block is displayed in the image.

    Firstline

    First line Info block which is in line 0 of each transmitted image is displayed.

    Eachline

    In each line from line 0 of each transmitted image the Each line info block is displayed.

    FirstandEachLine

    First and each line info block are displayed in each image.

    In case both FirstlineandEach line info block are active, Eachline info block is always displayed from line 1 in every transmitted image!

    First line info block format

    Pixel

    0

    1

    2

    3

    4

    5

    6

    7

    8

    9

    10

    11

    12

    13

    14

    15

    16

    17

    18

    19

    20

    21

    22

    23

    Line 0

    MARKER

    SERIAL
    NUMBER

    MARKER

    IMAGE
    COUNT

    EXPOSURE TIME

    MARKER

    LINE TIME

    ENCODER
    CLOCKS

    ERROR
    CODE

    TIME STAMP

    MARKER

    Information

    Channel Content1

    Description

    MARKER

    DIVERSE

    Markers are used to mark the info block with red pixels.

    Color

    Red

    Green

    Blue

    Value

    255@8bit

    0@8bit

    0@8bit

    SERIAL NUMBER

    SAME

    These pixels encode the serial number of the camera.

    Byte3

    Byte 2

    Byte 1

    Byte0

    Px1

    Px2

    Px3

    Px4

    SN 1ST PART

    SN 2ND PART

    IMAGE COUNT

    SAME

    These pixels encode the image count of the camera.

    Byte 1

    Byte0

    Px6

    Px7

    IMAGE COUNT

    EXPOSURE TIME

    SAME

    This is the current Exposure Time in camera internal clock cycles.

    Byte 1

    Byte0

    Px8

    Px9

    EXPOSURE TIME CLOCKS

    To decode the exposure time, use the following formula:

    Camera Variant

    ax_X

    50

    g8_X

    80

    LINE TIME

    SAME

    This is the current line time in camera internal clock cycles.

    Byte2

    Byte1

    Byte0

    Px11

    Px12

    Px13

    LINE TIME CLOCKS

    To decode the line time, use the following formula:

    Up to package 2.1.1

    Camera Variant

    ax_X

    75

    g8_X

    80

    Package 2.1.2 and later:

    Camera Variant

    ALL

    100

    ENCODER CLOCKS

    SAME

    This is a 32-bit counter starting at power on with 0.
    These counts either the line trigger (LineStart) or Encoder pulses depending on the selected mode.

    Byte3

    Byte 2

    Byte 1

    Byte0

    Px14

    Px15

    Px16

    Px17

    ENCODER CLOCKS

    ERROR CODE

    UNUSED

    CURRENTLY UNUSED PRESET WITH ZERO

    TIMESTAMP

    SAME

    Timestamp starts counting from boot.

    Byte2

    Byte1

    Byte0

    Px19

    Px20

    Px21

    SECONDS

    1MS= Milliseconds

    To achieve the milliseconds part of the timestamp the

    Content of Px21 must be multiplied by four.

    1 SAME indicates that all color channels contain the same value. It is sufficient to evaluate a single color component.
    DIVERSE indicates different values for individual color channels which should be taken into account when composing the information.

    Each Line info block format

    Pixel

    0

    1

    2

    3

    4

    5

    6

    7

    8

    9

    RED

    MARKER

    ERROR CODE

    SPEED2HIGH

    ENCODER CLOCKS

    NEXT LINE POSITION

    TIME STAMP

    UNSUPPORTED

    UNSUPPORTED

    LINE STATUS/SCAN-DIR

    MARKER

    LINE TIME

    GREEN

    CONTINUOUS
    LINE COUNT

    LINE COUNT

    BLUE

    Information

    Channel Content1

    Description

    CONTINUOUS
    LINE COUNT

    DIVERSE

    This is the continuous line count across image boundaries.

    -

    Byte1

    Byte0

    Px0Red

    Px0Green

    Px0Blue

    CONT LINE COUNT

    ERROR CODE

    DIVERSE

    This is an error code. Currently not used!

    Byte0

    -

    -

    Px1Red

    Px1Green

    Px1Blue

    ERROR
    CODE

    LINE COUNT

    DIVERSE

    This is a line counter starting from image start.

    -

    Byte1

    Byte0

    Px1Red

    Px1Green

    Px1Blue

    LINE COUNT

    SPEED2HIGH

    DIVERSE

    This bit is set if the line trigger exceeds the cameras maximum line rate. This is Bit7 of Px1Red.

    BIT7

    BIT6

    BIT0

    Px2Red

    SPEED2HIGH

    -

    LINE TIME

    DIVERSE

    This is the current measured line time in camera internal clock cycles.


    BIT7…4

    BIT3…0

    Byte1

    Byte0

    Px2Red

    Px2Green

    Px2Blue

    LINE TIME CLOCKS

    To decode the line time, use the following formula:

    Up to package 2.1.1

    Camera Variant

    ax_X

    75

    g8_X

    80

    Package 2.1.2 and later:

    Camera Variant

    ALL

    100

    ENCODER CLOCKS

    DIVERSE

    This is a 24-bit counter starting at power on with 0.
    These counts either the line trigger (LineStart) or Encoder pulses depending on the selected mode.

    Byte2

    Byte1

    Byte0

    Px3Red

    Px3Green

    Px3Blue

    ENCODER CLOCKS

    NEXT LINE TRIGGER POSITION

    DIVERSE

    Information of the next line trigger position in encoder pulses (only at encoder mode). The calculated position is

    shown in a 16.8b value. If encoder averaging is used, the

    value is divided by the average size. At a slave camera,

    this field has the value zero.

    Byte2

    Byte1

    Byte0

    Px4Red

    Px4Green

    Px4Blue

    NEXT LT POS RAW

    To achieve the actual value, follow this formula:

    TIMESTAMP

    SAME

    Timestamp starts counting from boot.

    Byte2

    Byte1

    Byte0

    Px5Red

    Px5Green

    Px5Blue

    SECONDS

    1MS= Milliseconds

    To achieve the milliseconds part of the timestamp the

    Content of Px5Blue must be multiplied by four.

    LINE STATUS

    DIVERSE

    This entry reflects the logical level of the input lines before LineInverter. If LineInverter is enabled the value reflected by the Line Status feature is inverse.

    Line

    Pixel Bit

    Line1

    Px8Green0

    Line2

    Px8Green1

    Line3

    Px8Green2

    Line4

    Px8Green4

    Line5

    Px8Green5

    Line6

    Px8Green6

    Line7

    Px8Green7

    Line9

    Px8Red0

    Line10

    -

    SCAN-DIR

    DIVERSE

    The scan direction

    Direction

    Value

    Forward

    0

    Backward

    1

    Entry

    Pixel Bit

    Scan Direction

    Px8Blue6

    1 SAME indicates that all color channels contain the same value. It is sufficient to evaluate a single color component.
    DIVERSE indicates different values for individual color channels which should be taken into account when composing the information.

    Test Pattern Generator Selector

    Name

    TestPatternGeneratorSelector

    Standard

    Description

    Selects which test pattern generator is controlled by the TestPattern feature.

    Interface

    Enumeration

    Access mode

    Read/Write

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    Yes

    Value range

    See enum entry table below.

    Default value

    ImageProcessing

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    -

    Error behavior

    -

    Test Pattern Generator Selector Enum Entries:

    Name

    Description

    ImageProcessing

    TestPattern feature controls the Image Processing test pattern generator.

    Test Pattern

    Name

    TestPattern[TestPatternGeneratorSelector]

    Standard

    Description

    Selects the type of test pattern that is generated by the device as image source.

    Interface

    Enumeration

    Access mode

    Read/Write

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    No

    Value range

    See enum entry table below.

    Default value

    Off

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    -

    Error behavior

    See the device error code documentation.

    Test Pattern Generator Selector Enum Entries:

    Name

    Description

    Off

    Image is coming from the sensor.

    GreyHorizontalRamp

    Image is filled horizontally with pixels that go from the darkest possible value to the brightest.

    GreyVerticalRamp

    Image is filled vertically with pixels that go from the darkest possible value to the brightest.

    GreyHorizontalRampMoving

    Image is filled horizontally with pixels that go from the darkest possible value to the brightest and that move horizontally from left to right at each frame.

    GreyVerticalRampMoving

    Image is filled vertically with lines that go from the darkest possible value to the brightest and that move vertically from top to bottom at each frame.

    ColorRamps

    Horizontal ramp in red color channel. Vertical and horizontal ramp in green color channel. Vertical ramp in blue color channel.

    TogglingPixels

    Vertically and horizontally neighbored pixels have the inverse intensity value from each other.

    PinStripes

    Fixed pin stripe pattern with configurable background. The background is configurable with the test pattern value feature.

    Test Pattern Value

    Name

    TestPatternValue[TestPatternGeneratorSelector]

    Custom

    Description

    Test-Pattern-specific value that influences the appearance of the generated image.

    Interface

    Integer

    Access mode

    Read/Write

    Adjustable

    while grabbing

    Yes

    Value range

    [0 – 4095]

    Default value

    64

    Availability

    ALL

    Notes

    -

    Error behavior

    See the device error code documentation.


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