Video/Camera Properties

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The Unifeye SDK is capable of working with images and videos, also supporting live camera streaming. Supported camera sources are DirectShow based (most webcams), Allied Vision Technologies, IDS imaging and High-Definition (see image and video sources in the getting started section).
The section below contains special information about the according video/camera systems. Please also refer to the Unifeye SDK function reference to get a complete overview about camera related functions inside the Unifeye SDK.

DirectShow cameras

!DirectShow provides a unique way of connecting to a broad range of cameras connected to a Windows system. Almost every Windows USB or Firewire camera provides a DirectShow driver. The Unifeye SDK is capable of working with any camera providing an according DirectShow driver. The image format is usually set to RGB 24.
For DirectShow sources, the properties of the camera driver (e.g. contrast, shutter, gain, etcc) and also properties of the camera driver output pin (e.g. image size and frame rate) can be changed online using the functions showPinPropertiesOnActivatedCamera() and showPropertiesOnActivatedCamera(). Those functions will open a camera/driver dependant menu/GUI for changing the according parameters manually. Please note that usually those settings do not stay persistent over power cycles of the PC. You can also set the camera resolution (and frame rate with limitations) using the function setCameraFormat(). For more details on the according Unifeye SDK function calls please refer to the Unifeye SDK function reference.

Digital PAL/Camcorders

You can also connect/use camcorders to the Unifeye SDK (e.g. using the according FireWire port). This will be handled via the according DirectShow driver automatically. Please note that some digital cameras support a PAL format of non-square pixels with a resolution of 720x576. To transform this format of non-square pixels to a PC conform view, the image is scaled to 768x576. This is especially important when considering camera calibration.

Allied Vision Technologies cameras

The Unifeye SDK also supports Allied Vision Technologies cameras (http://www.alliedvisiontec.com) via their native interface. For using those cameras the AVT FirePackage and the AVT Universal Package are required (see the Getting Started section and the Version History section for download and version details).
Using those cameras provides the advantage that you can configure all camera parameters in advance and store them in a file (e.g. using AVTs SmartView application that ships with the FirePackage) and load this settings files afterwards into the Unifeye SDK directly using the function loadCameraParameters() (see the function reference for more details). In addition to that you can programmatically set and get certain camera parameters (like gain, shutter, brightness, etc.) using the functions setCameraParameter() and getCameraParameter(). The resolution can also be set programmatically by either calling setCameraFormat() or using an according camera parameters file which can be loaded using loadCameraParameters().

IDS Imaging cameras

You can also use IDS imaging cameras (http://www.ids-imaging.com/index.php) via the normal DirectShow interface/driver that is provided by IDS (see the Getting Started section and the Version History section for download and version details). In contrast to "normal" DirectShow interfaces IDS provides an extended DirectShow drivers that allows you to configure your camera parameters in advance and store them in a file (using the IDS "demo application" provided with the IDS driver package) and load this settings files afterwards into the Unifeye SDK directly using the function loadCameraParameters() (see the function reference for more details). Also some camera parameters can be set programmatically using the setCameraParameter() function.

HD (High Definition) cameras

The Unifeye SDK supports a special, latency optimized HD camera interface using DeckLink High Definition capture cards (http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/) like the Intensity and HD Extreme. Those capture cards provide HDMI and/or HD-SDI interfaces.
In order to use those devices a few configuration steps are necessary:

• Ensure that have installed the according driver for your capture card (and the according firmware on the capture card). For downloading drivers, please refer to the support section for the DeckLink capture cards: http://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/software/
• Use the tool GraphEdit.exe (provided in the bin folder of your installation, e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\metaio\Unifeye\bin\graphedit\GraphEdt.exe) to ensure the correct video format (see the image below). This has to be either HD1080p or HD720p.
  • Start GraphEdit. Please note: if you are using Unifeye 64-bit on a 64-bit system you will have to use also the 64 bit version of GraphEdit which you can download from the Internet.
  • Go to Graph => InserFilter => Video Capture Source to add the Decklink Video Capture source to your viewing panel. Please do not add any other filters!
  • Open the Capture Properties window using a right-mouse-click on the capture filter element
  • Choose e.g. "HD 1080 25PsF 8-bit" as Video Format.
  • Press OK to save your settings.

• Check the DeckLink entry in your Windows ControlPanel to ensure the correct Input type (see image below)
  • Open the DeckLink entry in your ControlPanel.
  • In the settings section choose the correct Input value:
    • For analogue component video input choose "Y, R-Y, B-Y Video (Betacam)".
    • For SDI video input choose "SDI-video, SDI-analogue
    • For HDMI choose HDMI

• Note, that the Unifeye SDK currently supports HD modes 1080 and 720. You can switch on a pseudo deinterlacing by using the ConfigurableProperty "pseudoDeinterlace" of the ConfigurableModule "HDTVDroppingFramesSource". "1" switches on pseudo deinterlacing, "0" switches it off (default). Pseudo deinterlacing simply omits every second line of the incoming images and stretches the resulting half resolution image back to the original resolution (see the function reference for more details).
• Windows 7: We have noticed problems when the user account control is activated. You can turn it off, by pressing Start and typing uac in the search window. Select Change User Account Control settings and set the level to "Never notify". Press OK.

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-- SupportMetaio - 2011-01-20