Cameras Archives - 1stVision Inc. - Machine Vision Articles

November 20, 2024November 20, 2024

Teledyne DALSA 16k TDI line scan camera 1 MHz line rate

Product innovation continues to serve machine vision customers well. Clever designs are built for evolving customer demands and new markets, supported by electronics miniaturization and speed. Long a market leader in line scan imaging, Teledyne DALSA now offers the Linea HS2 TDI line scan camera family.

Linea HS2 16k TDI line scan camera with 1 MHz line rate – courtesy Teledyne DALSA

Video overview

The video below is just over one minute in duration, and provides a nice overview:

Backside illumination enhances quantum efficiency

Early sensors were all used frontside illumination, and everybody lived with that until about 10 years ago when backside illumination was innovated and refined. The key insight was to let the photons hit the light-sensitive surface first, with the sensor’s wiring layer on the other side. This greatly improves quantum efficiency, as seen in the graph below:

QE substantially enhanced using backside illumination (BSI – Courtesy Teledyne DALSA

Applications

This camera series is designed for high-speed imaging in light staved conditions. Applications include but are not limited to inspecting flat panel displays, semiconductor wafers, high density interconnects, and diverse life science uses.

Line scan cameras

You may already be a user of line scan cameras. If you are new to that branch of machine vision, compare and contrast line scan vs. area scan imaging. If you want the concept in a phrase or two, think “slice” or line of pixels obtained as the continuous wide target is passed beneath the camera. Repeat indefinitely. Can be used to monitor quality, detect defects, and/or tune controls.

Time Delay Integration (TDI)

Perhaps you even use Time Delay Integration (TDI) technology already. TDI builds on top of “simple” line scan by tracking how a pixel appears across several successive time slices, turning motion blur into an asset through hardware or software averaging and analysis.

Maybe you already have one or more of Teledyne DALSA’s prior-generation Linea HS line scan cameras. They feature the same pixel size, optics, and cables as the new Linea HS2 series. With a 2.5x speed increase the Linea HS2 provides a seamless upgrade. The Linea HS2 offers an optional cooling accessory to enhance thermal stability.

Frame grabber

The Linea HS2 utilizes Camera Link High Speed (CLHS) to match the camera’s data output rate with an interface that can keep up. Teledyne DALSA manufactures not just the camera, but also the Xtium2-CL MX4 Camera Link Frame Grabber.

The Xtium2-CL MX4 is built on next generation CLHS technology and features:

16 Gigapixels per second
dual CLHS CX4 connectors
drives active optical cables
supports parallel data processing in up to 12 PCs
allows cable lengths over 100 meters with complete EMI immunity

Which camera to choose?

As this blog is released, the Linea HS2, with 16k/5μm resolution provides an industry leading maximum line rate of 1 MHz, or 16 Gigapixels per second data throughput. Do you need the speed and sensitivity of this camera? Or is one of the “kid brother” models enough – they are already highly performant before the new kid came along. We can help you sort out the specifications according to your application requirements.

1st Vision’s sales engineers have over 100 years of combined experience to assist in your camera and components selection. With a large portfolio of cameras, lenses, cables, NIC cards and industrial computers, we can provide a full vision 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

November 20, 2024November 20, 2024

IDS Ensenso B-Series: 3D Vision at Close Range

IDS has developed and released the Ensenso B-Series, ideal for short object distances as close as 21cm. Even that close it achieves a Field of View (FOV) of 30 x 26 cm and depth values accurate to 0.1 mm. While 3D machine vision isn’t new, this camera series is.

Ensenso B compact 3D camera – Courtesy IDS Imaging

Ensenso family of cameras

We introduced IDS’ Ensenso 3D cameras in 2023, bringing new stereo and structured light solutions to the portfolio. Then later in 2023 we announced IDS Ensenso C Series, which added color capabilities. That rounded out the lineup with differentiated offerings under each of the following identifiers: C, N, S, X, and XR. See all Ensenso models.

The new Enenso B-Series

This blog focuses on the new Ensenso B-Series. The cameras are ultra-compact, and can work at close range, still delivering a large FOV.

Ensenso B mounted on robotic arm – Courtesy IDS Imaging

The compact unit contains the stereo cameras as well as the bright pattern projector used to support stereo 3D imaging. The durable housing is rate for IP65/67 protection, and is ideal for harsh industrial environments.

Maybe you need Ensenso B

Or perhaps your application would be best served by Series C, N, S, X, or XR?

IDS Imaging Ensenso 3D cameras and camera systems are built for industrial 3D imaging with a GigE interface for ease of setup. Ensenso 3D cameras are suitable for numerous 3D imaging applications including robotics, bin picking, warehouse automation and 3D measurement tasks. They are widely used for many industrial applications such as factory automation, logistics, and quality assurance.

Ensenso 3D cameras have numerous features, benefits, and options.

Please contact us for more information. We can provide you with additional technical information and help you choose the right 3D camera system for your 3D imaging application.

October 22, 2024October 22, 2024

Sony STARVIS 2 sensors in IDS Imaging uEye cameras

Sony has evolved their successful STARVIS high-sensitivity back-illuminated sensor to the next generation STARVIS 2 sensors. This brings even wider dynamic range, and is available in three specific resolutions of 4MP, 5MP, and 12.5MP. The sensor models are respectively Sony IMX664, IMX675, and IMX676. And IDS Imaging has in turn put these sensors into their uEye cameras.

uEye USB3 C-mount camera available with any of the three Sony STARVIS 2 sensors – Courtesy IDS Imaging

Camera overview before deeper dive on the sensors

The new sensors, responsive in low ambient light to both visible and NIR, are available in IDS’ compact, cost-effective uEye XCP and uEye XLS cameras. They’re available in both the XCP housed cameras with C-mount optics and USB3 interface. And in the XLS board-level format with C/CS, S, and no-mount options, also with the USB3 interface

Choose the XCP models if you want the closed zinc die-cast housing, the screwable USB micro-B connector, and the C-mount lens adaptor for use with a wide range of multi-megapixel lenses. Digital I/O connections plus trigger and flash pins may also be connected.

If you prefer a board-level camera for embedded designs, and even lower weight (from 3 – 20 grams) select one of the XLS formats. Options include C/CS and S-mount, or no-mount.

XLS board level models – Courtesy IDS Imaging

All models across both camera families are Vision Standard compliant: U3V / GenICam. So you may use the IDS Peak SDK. Or any other compliant software.

Deeper dive on the sensors themselves

To motivate the technical discussion, let’s start with side-by-side images, only one of which was obtained with a STARVIS 2 sensor:

Left image with IMX236; right image with Sony IMX585 STARVIS 2 sensor – Courtesy Sony.

How is such a dramatic improvement possible, over Sony’s earlier sensors? The key is switching from traditional front-illuminated sensors to STARVIS’ back-illuminated design. The back-illuminated approach collects more incident light – by a factor of 4.6 times – by positioning the photo diodes on top of the wiring layer.

Substantially more light makes it to the photo diodes using back-illumination architecture – Courtesy Sony

See also a compelling 4 minute video showing images and streaming segments generated with and without STARVIS 2 sensors.

NIR as well as VIS sensitivity

The STARVIS 2 sensors are capable of not only conventional visible spectrum performance (VIS), but also do well in the NIR space. If the subject’s NIR sensitivity is sufficient, one may avoid or reduce the need for supplemental NIR lighting. This is useful for license plate recognition applications, security, or other uses where lighting in certain spectra or intensities would disturb humans.

Left image from sensor with no NIR response; right image with STARVIS 2 sensor – Courtesy Sony.

Performance and feature highlights

The 4 MP Sony IMX664 delivers up to 48.0 fps, at 2688 x 1536 pixels, with USB3 delivering 5 Gbps. It pairs with lenses matched for up to 1/1.8″.

Sony’s IMX675, with 2592 x 1960 pixels, provides 5 MP at frame rates to 40.0 fps, via the same USB3 interface.

Finally, the 12.62 MP Sony IMX676,is ideal for microscopy with square format 3552 x 3552, but can still deliver up to 17.0 fps for applications with limited motion.

While there are diverse sensor features to explore in the data sheets for both the uEye XCP and uEye XLS cameras, one particularly worth noting is the High Dynamic Range (HDR) feature. These feature controls are made available in the camera, permitting bright scene segments to experience short exposures, while darker segments get longer exposure. This yields a more actionable dynamic range for your application to process.

No HDR in left image; with HDR feature enabled in right image – Courtesy Sony.

Direct links to the cameras

In the table below one finds each camera by model number, family, and sensor, with link to respective landing page for full details, spec sheets, etc.

Model	Family	Sensor
U3-34E0XCP	uEye XCP housed	SONY IMX664
U3-34F0XCP	uEye XCP housed	SONY IMX675
U3-34L0XCP	uEye XCP housed	SONY IMX676
U3-34E1XLS	uEye XLS board	SONY IMX664
U3-34F1XLS	uEye XLS board	SONY IMX675
U3-34L2XLS	uEye XLS board	SONY IMX676

IDS Imaging uEye housed and board-level cameras with Sony STARVIS 2 sensors

October 22, 2024October 22, 2024

Opto Engineering HC 360° Hypercentric 360°Lenses

Inspect the inner sides and bottom of hollow objects simultaneously with Opto Engineering’s HC 360° hypercentric lenses.

HC 360° hypercentric lenses – Courtesy Opto Engineering

The optical path of the rays pass through the narrow openings of hollow objects (pipes, bottles, cans, vials, etc.) without the need to rotate an object, use a probe, or use multi-camera configurations. HC hypercentric lenses are used in diverse inspection applications including beverage, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries.

See landing page for all 8 members of the Opto Engineering HC family

…including part number, image circle size and sensor pairings, FOV, and spec sheet links. And corresponding quote-request links.

See all Opto Engineering HC lenses

Example of a glass bottle inspections with HCSI lens – Courtesy Opto Engineering

IF one didn’t know about 360° hypercentric lenses…

… one might attempt a muti-camera or line scan solution. But there are drawbacks to each of those approaches.

Drawbacks of a multicamera solution – Courtesy Opto Engineering

OK, what about linescan? Linescan is know to be good for high resolution images of elongated objects. Yes, but one would need a separate camera for each of the sides vs. the bottom of the object. Most significant, however, is the requirement for motion essential to a linescan design, as the camera or object must rotate to expose all “slices”, while the object is concurrently progressing down the line.

Linescan continuous motion requirement not compatible with 360° view requirement – Courtesy Opto Engineering

Opto Engineering 360° lenses check all the boxes

Since line scan really isn’t a solution, and a multicamera approach is complex at best, for comprehensive inspection of the inner sides and bottom of hollow objects, these Opto Engineering 360° lenses offer an attractive solution.

Review all the specs … and request a quote if desired

Pros and cons of different approaches when 360° view is required – Courtesy Opto Engineering

See these other blogs on Opto products!