Vision hardware selection

Upgrading from a webcam to an industrial machine vision camera brings a lot of benefits in terms of image quality, performance, and functionality. In this article, we will discuss the advantages of using an industrial machine vision camera and how it differs from a webcam. The differences between a webcam and an area scan camera Webcams are common in many applications, from video conferencing to streaming. They are relatively inexpensive and easy to use, but they have limited functionality and lower image quality compared to industrial machine vision cameras. Industrial machine vision cameras are designed for applications that require high-quality images, high-speed imaging, and advanced features. They are widely used in industries such as manufacturing, automation, robotics, and quality control. The purpose of a webcam is to...

When selecting the most suitable Gigabit Ethernet camera for your machine vision project, you should know the differences between industrial cameras with and without Power over Ethernet (PoE). PoE means that the CAT6 network cable simultaneously works as communication and as the power supply for the camera. You can recognise a camera with PoE by the article number with a “-P” at the end. For example, the MER2-630-18GC-P is our 6,3 mega pixel camera with Power over Ethernet, while the MER2-630-18GC has the same image sensor but no Power over Ethernet. Both cameras with PoE and without PoE have their advantages and disadvantages. These are explained below. Why choose for a camera with Power over Ethernet Using a GigE camera with PoE is the most convenient way to power your industrial Gigabit Ethernet camera. You only...

Machine vision industrial lights are reliable products which provide constant, non-fluctuating power/light output. They are designed to be used 24/7, providing the best light conditions and machine vision lights are available in many colours to create extra contrast. The machine vision lights have a long-life cycle and therefore the same light with the same specs and output can be purchased for many years. Machine vision lights have a great batch repeatability and minimal led characteristic variations between batches that could cause quality deviations. Industrial lights are powered with constant DC voltage and reliable power sources, therefore there is no flickering. Additionally, it’s possible to over strobe the light, to achieve higher light intensity with the same light (for shorter time). There are several types of...

Motion blur can cause the industrial camera to capture unsharp / blurry images. Unsharp images result in inaccurate measurements, bad fault detection or wrong classifications. Motion blur is caused by movement or vibration during the exposure time of the industrial camera. When the object moves for more than 0.5 pixel during the exposure time, the image will have motion blur. To avoid motion blur, the shutter speed must freeze the scene, so the object does not move more than 0.5 pixel during exposure time. This can be done by reducing the exposure time of the camera. However, reducing the exposure time will also make the image darker (as there is less time to capture light). Illustration of the effect of motion blur How to make your setup more light sensitive  If your image is too dark you can check one of...

This article explains how to read barcodes and DMC codes (Datamatrix codes) with the most cost-effective machine vision camera solution. Additionally, we clarify the difference between Barcodes and DMC codes by discussing the pros and cons. We also provide a formula that helps you to calculate the required resolution, and give practical examples reading barcodes and DMC codes. Barcode versus DMC codes The best choice for code reading with industrial machine vision cameras is to use DMC codes instead of Barcodes. DMC codes can be read using lower resolution cameras while using the same field of view as Barcodes. Therefore, when reading DMC codes, you can use cheaper cameras. This also means that with DMC codes you can inspect a bigger field of view with the same hardware and price. DMC code is a matrix of dots, also called a...

Global shutter is used for capturing moving objects, while rolling shutter is used for capturing still images. A rolling shutter camera is cheaper, especialy for resolutions above 1.6 Megapixel. A 12MP rolling shutter camera costs approx. 200 euro, while a 12MP global shutter costs approx. 1000 euro. A Global shutter has larger pixels, therefore a larger sensor as a rolling shutter camera. As a result, a global shutter camera is more light sensitive and produces sharper images. Exposure and Shutter Exposure time is a period of the shutter from open to close. During the period, the light exposing on the chip’s photosensitive array and Photoelectric effect occurs, then photoelectric charges are produced. By the A/D transformation, the grayscale value of each pixel is displayed. Under a certain light intensity, the...

You might have noticed that some of our cameras are marked as ‘GeT-Cameras Choice’. There are a few reasons why we recommend these cameras, like recommendation for new indesign, the newest image sensors and shorter lead times.   Recommended for new indesigns The main reason why a camera is marked as ‘GeT Cameras Choice’ is because we recommend this camera for your new development. The camera is in an early stage of its product life cycle. Every camera is at least available for 7 years after market introduction. Our track record shows an average availability of 12-15 years. Read more about product life cycle on our machine vision knowledge center: Product life cycle of industrial cameras. Newest image sensors Additionally the image sensors of the cameras are one of the latest generations. Using the...

Gaspar van Elmbt, the managing director of GeT-Cameras, had planned to give a presentation about cost reducing vision hardware design at the UKIVA this month. However, due to the Covid’19 virus this event got cancelled. The organization of this event managed to provide the visitors with all the presentations, included ours, on the ‘presentation hub’.   If you want to learn how to reduce the cost price of your project, make sure to take a look at the presentation in the video below.    

All our industrial cameras have a minimum life cycle of 7 years after market introduction. The graph below shows the typical product life cycle stages of an industrial camera. Market introduction of an industrial camera When a camera is released it has the latest generation sensor. In almost all cases the latest generation sensor is more light senstive and has less noise than previous generation sensors. Therefore a better image quality can be achieved. Check for newer alternatives After 3-7 years, sensor manufacturers will release a new version of the sensor or a sensor from a different brand might have better imaging performance. Therefore during this period it's important to check if there are other camera types available that have a newer image sensor. EOL Notification Unfortunately cameras do go End of Life (EOL)....

Machine vision camera Interface whitepaper This article will provide a deeper inside in what the benefits and downsides are of each type of machine vision camera interface, so you can select the right interface for your machine vision application. It has to be noted that GeT cameras only supplies USB 2.0 , USB 3.0 , GigE , 5GigE and 10GigE machine vision cameras and the article will mainly be focused on these five industrial machine vision interfaces. However in the table below we have incorporated also other interfaces to make the overview of industrial machine vision camera interfaces complete.     USB2 USB3 FireWire GigE CameraLink Coaxpress 5GigE 10GigE Bandwidth (Megabyte/s) 40 400 80 100...

Arm embedded platforms are very popular for embedded vision. Many of these platforms have a USB2, USB3 and or GigE ethernet port. Our USB3 and GigE Vision Cameras work with these ARM embedded platforms. The Raspberry Pi, that has a USB2 port, even works with our USB3 cameras on reduced frame-rate . Which embedded board to select with USB3 Vision Camera There are many embedded boards available in the market that work with our USB3 Vision Cameras. The following ARM platforms were extensively tested with our machine vision cameras: - NVIDIA Jetson TX1/TX2 - NVIDIA Tegra TK1 - Toradex Apalis TK1 on Ixora Carrier Board - Raspberry Pi 3B, incl. support of the camera module. However other popular embedded boards are: - Odroid XU4 - NanoPi M4 - NVIDIA Jetson Nano - Firefly We especially like the Raspberry Pi for low end...

Industrial Polarized Camera Daheng Imaging is familliar in the industrial polarized camera segment by implementing the Sony-IMX250MZR monochrome image-sensor . Recently the IMX264MZR has also been added to the portfolio. The Industrial polarization camera systems are able to capture information which a normal line or area industrial camera is not able to obtain. A polarization camera conducts a two-dimensional analysis. It measures both the degree and direction of the polarization of the light. As a result the final image has almost none reflections from external lightsources. A polarized camera is ideal for applications like the inspection of glossy products and transparent products.   Standard machine vision camera versus polarized camera The following examples show on the left hand side an image captured...

Introduction to the industrial machine vision USB3 Camera System USB3 Vision standard is an imaging interface standard for industrial USB3 vision cameras . The majority of camera manufacturers have already adopted this standard, and the number of compatible, accessories growing quickly. A big advantage of the USB3 interface is that, any of the PCs, laptops and smartphones have a USB 3.0 interface built in nowadays. In the field of vision technology, USB 3.0 is also replacing dated interfaces such as the FireWire, Cameralink and USB2.0. The speed of the USB3 Vision Camera Interface The USB 3.0 interface, also known as Super-Speed USB, is the following line of the well-known plug and play Universal Serial Bus spec that builds on the assets of USB 2.0 and washed out its weaknesses. The operative bandwidth accessible with the...