Optical metrology is an application area within machine vision focused on precise measurement using controlled optics, lighting, cameras, and calibration. Telecentric lenses are designed to maintain constant magnification over a defined depth range, reducing perspective error.
Computar LensConnect telecentric motorized lenses are the first in the industry to combine these features. That brings precision telecentric optics with intelligent remote focus control for high-accuracy industrial imaging and measurement applications.
LensConnect USB powered motorized telecentric lenses – Courtesy Computar
Example application: PCB Inspection
Consider the following application:
Courtesy Computar
The application needs to BOTH measure the height of all three indicated components AND to OCR read/verify/record the markings on the components. That requires both telecentricity and focus control.
Courtesy Computar
Motorized automated focus is key differentiator
In the short 35 second video below, one can see how lens controls are parameterized to automatically optimize focus, adapting to variable conditions.
Four different magnification options
There are 4 different lens models in the series, with magnifications of:
Ideal for metrology, semiconductor, and electronics inspection
Simplifies remote setup and multi-camera calibration systems
1stVision is pleased to have these LensConnect motorized telecentric lenses in our portfolio, along with all the other Computar lenses. Call us at 978-474-0044.
About you: We want to hear from you! We’ve built our brand on our know-how and like to educate the marketplace on imaging technology topics… What would you like to hear about?… Drop a line to info@1stvision.com with what topics you’d like to know more about.
New to the 1stVision portfolio, FLIR Blackfly S are available in compact housed and board-level models, with lossless compression, achieving both high speed and high image quality.
Sony Pregius S and ON Semi CMOS sensors for high sensitivity, low noise image quality
Compact 29 × 29 mm “ice cube” form factor simplifies integration in tight spaces
Wide resolution range (<1 MP to 20+ MP) supports speed or precision optimization
Advanced on-camera image processing include color correction, lossless compression, lens shading correction
Advanced camera controls (sequencer, timers, counters, events) enable precise automation
Develop Once, Deploy Everywhere
With tens of different models of FLIR Blackfly S, cameras, Teledyne Vision Solutions emphasizes “develop once, deploy everywhere”. Since each housed model has the same form factor, varying only by sensor, from < 1MP to > 24MP, the same SDK, software, and interface deploys seamlessly. Whether you want to increase resolution at an existing camera position, or roll out cameras at new positions and new applications, the breadth of this camera series really helps customers scale easily.
Per the video below, board-level cameras can be deployed in diverse configurations, but share the same board dimensions, SDK options, and interfaces.
Video courtesy of Teledyne
Typical Applications
Automated optical inspection (AOI)
Industrial machine vision inspection systems
Robotics guidance and pick-and-place
Electronics and semiconductor inspection
Medical and life sciences imaging
Barcode reading and logistics automation
Embedded vision and OEM integration
Intelligent traffic systems and transportation imaging
Electronics and semiconductor inspection
Food and packaging inspection
Scientific and laboratory imaging
Additional benefits
Lens costs typically low: Thanks to many Blackfly S cameras using Sony Pregius S sensors, small pixel sizes enable high resolution packed into a small sensor. This means lenses can be physically smaller, which saves weight and materials, and typically translates to lower costs.
Reduced lighting requirements: Another benefit of highly-responsive sensors is that ambient light may be all that’s needed. Or less ambitious artificial lighting. Another possible cost advantage.
Synchronize by PTP: For multi-camera applications, often it’s required to synchronize two or more cameras. Precision Time Protocol (PTP) allows that to happen through the camera network cabling, without additional cable costs or complexity management.
Can be used with Sapera LT (Teledyne Dalsa SDK), so if you’re using DALSA Nano and find a model from the FLIR line up, you can make an easy switch.
Series extended – new models
Even if you thought you knew the Blackfly S series, new models joined the family. For example the BFS-PGE-50Y2 is available in both monochrome and color, with Sony AR0521 1/2.5″ CMOS sensor, 2.2 um pixels, and 24 FPS at 5 MP. With a CS-mount it’s ideal for flexible optics choices and system integration.
Call us at 978-474-0044. We can guide you to the optimal sensor, camera, and interface for your application requirements. We’ve also got you covered for lensing, lighting, software, and accessories.
About you: We want to hear from you! We’ve built our brand on our know-how and like to educate the marketplace on imaging technology topics… What would you like to hear about?… Drop a line to info@1stvision.com with what topics you’d like to know more about.
High dynamic range (HDR) isn’t new. It’s frequently mentioned. And offered on-camera, or via software or FPGA. Is it just a marketing term, or a real benefit? If your application’s scenes contain both bright and dark regions, HDR can absolutely deliver benefits.
Consider the three images shown below:
Courtesy JAI
Neither the “slow shutter” image nor the “fast shutter” image is optimal. The former is over-saturated – one can’t even find the many windows in the central building. The fast shutter image is of course too dark, essentially losing the arch and the flagpole. While this scene is more from the realm of “photography” than “machine vision”, the concepts are the same.
Clearly the best image is the HDR image – the lighter areas are revealed in nuanced detail, but so too the unlit trees and gray windows are clear in their own degrees of black and gray, and everything in between. How is this achieved?
What is HDR?
Let’s unpack the acronym, starting with DR for dynamic range. DR is the ratio between the largest and smallest measurable values, for the quantity being measured. For machine vision, it’s light intensity that’s being quantified.
Generally speaking, a larger dynamic range is preferrable to a small one, as the nuanced differences of a relatively larger dynamic range may be required for effective image processing. Take edge-detection, a common machine vision requirement for many applications. The edge may only become apparent, under given lighting conditions and resolution, when the saturation of pixels in a given region are consistently lower to one side and consistently higher to the other side of the “emergent” edge. With sufficient dynamic range, calculated confidence grows, while poor dynamic range may fail to reveal an edge at all.
Ways to create a composite HDR image
One way to create an HDR image is with two exposures and an algorithm for creating the composite. The shorter exposure captures the more brightly lit or highly reflective surfaces, while the remaining regions remain unsaturated or only slightly registering. A longer exposure oversaturates the lighter targets, but reveal nuanced variation in the previously unrevealed details.
In fact one does the longer exposure first, such that the darker portions of the scene produce a variance of non-zero values – i.e. a dynamic range across the darker regions.
Then for the shorter exposure, use the brightest non-saturated pixels from the first exposure as a reference to generate small non-zero values as a control on the short exposure, creating a calculated point of overlap. That way many pixels that were oversaturated on the long exposure are only slightly to moderated saturated on the short-exposure, for a nuanced spread of values across the corresponding pixels.
The blending algorithm compares the two images, pixel for pixel, with the overlap point as a reference. Saturated pixels in the first image are replaced with the corresponding non-saturated pixel values from the second image.
While the two-exposure approach described above is easy to understand, there’s clearly a time-cost in taking two successive exposures, reading them both out to the PC host, and doing the image processing. For certain applications, that may be acceptable. For others, especially with motion involved, or desired high cycle counts, one might hope for a faster approach.
Another way: multi-slope pixel generation on CMOS sensors
The rise of CMOS sensors and their transistor-based pixel architecture enables on-sensor functionality that convenient supports the generation of HDR images. This may be achieved by resetting pixels approaching saturation, prior to end of exposure, so those pixels have an opportunity to be filled from a range of values instead of maxing out had the reset not occurred.
Consider the follow two diagrams, and the supporting discussion below:
If many pixels fill before the end of the exposure, a lot of the image may be oversaturated, even though the darker regions need a longer exposure to become meaningfully non-zero. Courtesy JAI.
But thanks to CMOS transistors at each pixel position, the sensor can be programmed to monitor saturation values, and to reset pixels approaching saturation to “partial fill” levels that allow additional fill for the remainder of the exposure.
Courtesy JAI
It gets even better
Above was “intro level” HDR, concepts and techniques that provide the foundation. Meanwhile innovators keep taking it to the next level.
For example, Sony now offers Quad HDR on their IMX900 sensor, available in the IDS uEye low-cost cameras. Getting the dark sections sufficiently saturated while not oversaturating the brighter regions is really evident with Quad HDR below.
Quad HDR generates a balanced image – Courtesy IDS
In the video below, you may jump to position 1 minute 42 seconds for more on Quad HDR:
Even more on HDR:
If you’d like to read a more in-depth treatment on HDR, including more example images, supporting arithmetic and graphical rational, download our whitepaper on High Dynamic Range Imaging.
Or perhaps you have an application with known nuanced dark regions as well as variation in the saturated areas, for which HDR may add value. Should you do it on-camera/sensor? In an FPGA/frame-grabber? On the PC host? Use lighting techniques to avoid needing HDR altogether? There are a number of different ways to achieve optimal image outcomes, but HDR is certainly a valuable technique for some applications.
Call us at 978-474-0044, and let us guide you to a best-fit solution.
About you: We want to hear from you! We’ve built our brand on our know-how and like to educate the marketplace on imaging technology topics… What would you like to hear about?… Drop a line to info@1stvision.com with what topics you’d like to know more about.
Do you seek a single-device solution for process monitoring – a video streaming/recording industrial camera without needing an additional PC? IDS uEye Live SCP | SLE compact industrial cameras enable monitoring tasks to be executed directly on the camera without the need for an additional PC.
If you need to visualize, document, or monitor processes, this camera is quick to integrate and requires no programming. No PC is needed, as it’s a system on a chip, embedded in the camera.
Just as vehicle dashcams and video doorbells capture sequences that are useful to have documented, it can be useful to capture industrial processing sequences that would otherwise have been missed.
Whether for quality control, process improvement, compliance requirements, or liability, videos of “where it went wrong” can be incredibly valuable. Using the event recording feature, one may have a lookback window of recorded streaming, in order to go back and replay the sequence, extract frames, etc.
Courtesy IDS Imaging
UEye SCP is the housed version:
Courtesy IDS Imaging
It’s also available in space-saving board-level options (shown below), as well as a wash-down IP69K housed version (not shown here):
Courtesy IDS Imaging
Process monitoring
Here’s a video focused on process monitoring applications with IDS uEye Live cameras. It’s the logical follow on video to the introductory video above:
Going further yet – from streaming to AI: scalable process monitoring
It doesn’t have to stop with “simple” industrial dashcam applications – though there’s nothing wrong with stopping there if you are getting good value. This segment goes on to introduce the concept of scaling up your processing monitoring, even to adding AI to interpret and act upon multiple live streams.
This video introduces how IDS industrial monitoring cameras enable scalable, network‑ready process monitoring – from simple streaming to advanced AI‑based analysis. You’ll learn how compressed video streaming, remote access and built‑in intelligence support a wide range of industrial and inspection tasks.
About you: We want to hear from you! We’ve built our brand on our know-how and like to educate the marketplace on imaging technology topics… What would you like to hear about?… Drop a line to info@1stvision.com with what topics you’d like to know more about.
