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USB3.0 Hybrid Active Optical Cables provide high speed and distance! – up to 50M

USB3 works great at full bandwidth at 3 meters, and usually even at 5 meters, although we have found instances where certain combinations of motherboards, cameras, and cables have not been 100%.

Fortunately, we have the solution. 1st Vision offers both active electrical cables, and introducing Hybrid Active Optical cables.  


Hybrid Active Optical Cables

Hybrid Active Optical Cables (AOC) transmit USB3.0 data and power with no repeaters up to 50 meters and customized up to 500 meters.  In addition to the benefits of fiber for transmission, copper has been implemented for power. The cables meet the USB3.0 specifications and provide power via the USB port.  These are very cost effective starting at 10 meters.  

This combination of USB3.0 cameras with Hybrid AOC’s now provides high speed and long cable lengths!  This is perfect for updating some camera link installations providing higher speeds but not limited to 10 meter cable lengths.  

Additionally, When used in conjunction with a USB hub, several cameras can be deployed at extended distances.  



Example:  (4) cameras deployed via USB3.0 Hub and connected via a standard USB3.0 cable to the PC.  








Benefits of Hybrid Optical Cables: 

  • Transmission up to 50 meters
  • Maximum transmission speeds up to 5 Gbps (USB3.0)
  • No additional power and hardware required
  • No repeater required (essential if used in a drag chain)
  • Flex rating – 1.5 Million cycles / Bend Radius of 20mm
  • Screwable connections
  • Less EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) 
  • Compatible with USB2.0 cameras

Lengths available:  10, 20, 30 & 50 meters

Need more information?  Please review the datasheet and  Contact us for pricing

In cases that you need to extend past 5 meters with USB3.0, BUT not plagued with excessive lengths or non flexing application, we have Active USB3 cables in 5, 10, 15 and 20 meter lengths.

1st Vision has extensive knowledge in industrial imaging and can help answer any questions.  We have over 100 years of combined knowledge and look forward to discussing your application.  

Please do not hesitate to Contact us!  1st Vision can provide a complete solution including cameras, lenses, lighting and cables.  

 

Ph:  978-474-0044
info@1stvision.com
www.1stvision.com  

 
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Macro Lens Vs Extension Tubes – What provides the best results?

Macro lenses solve the problem of imaging a small field of view from a relatively large distance away (relative to the size of the field of view). This solution normally consists of a large focal length lens, however these lenses have Minimum Object distance (MOD) and focus further away than desired.

For example: Using a 1/3” sensor, you want to look at a 3mm Field Of View (FOV) from 30mm away. The solution requires a 50mm lens, but 50mm lenses do not focus closer than 500mm away in some cases!
A solution is to add “extension tubes” in between the camera and the lens, but this leads to several problems like high image distortion, resolution loss (especially at the corners), poor depth of field and chromatic effects.  This makes this method not suitable for good imaging especially if accurate measurements are required.  

What’s the solution?
 
Opto Engineering Macro lenses!  These lenses are specifically designed for macro imaging allowing close up focusing and small field of views.  Unlike conventional lenses, these lenses are optimized to overcome image distortion, poor depth of field and chromatic effects.  A very low optical distortion makes these lenses perfectly suitable for precise dimensional measurement applications.  





As seen on the images to the right, using a macro lens delivers superior image quality compared to standard fixed focal length camera lenses using extension tubes.  











Incredibly low distortion is also provided by these macro lenses compared to standard fixed focal lenses with extension tubes.  These lenses will provide the same performance at the center and edges of the field of view.

This is crucial in flat measurement applications. 

Using conventional lenses, measurements will not be accurate and require calibration.  





Color consistency is provided by these macro lenses for demanding applications and corrected over the visible spectrum.  In turn, chromatic aberrations are not exhibited when compared to conventional lenses.  







Opto Engineering provides four series of lenses that cover 1/3″ to 2/3″ format area sensors and up to 63mm line scan sensors – Series as follows: 

  • MC Zero distortion macro lens (0.33  – 3X mag)
  • MC3-03X – Zero distortion, multi-configuration macro lens (0.1 – 3X mag)
  • MC4K  – Macro lenses for 4k linescan cameras (0.3 – 2X mag)  
  • MC12K – Macro lenses for 12k and 16k linescan cameras (0.07 – 2X mag)

Full Specifications can be found HERE.  

This short video provides a brief overview of the Opto Engineering Macro series lenses

1st Vision has extensive knowledge in industrial imaging and can help answer any questions.  We have over 100 years of combined knowledge and look forward to discussing your application.  

Please do not hesitate to Contact us for a quote. 1st Vision can provide a complete solution including cameras, lenses, lighting and cables.  


Ph:  978-474-0044
info@1stvision.com
www.1stvision.com  

 
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    https://www.facebook.com/pages/1st-Vision/944658058935262?fref=ts           
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It’s a “No-Brainer” – Why not standardize on 1 camera for less than $500?

In working with many OEM customers of the years, historically several camera models were used to cover multiple system designs.  These were cases where there was an offering of lower and higher resolution systems, in turn needing VGA and 2MP cameras for example.

The introduction of the Sony Pregius sensors have changed the need for multiple cameras given excellent performance and pricing.  It has become a “no-brainer” to think about standardizing on one camera and emulate various resolutions for < $500



1st Vision has reviewed various resolutions achievable within given optical formats using the Sony Pregius IMX174 and IMX249 sensors.  

In cases where we wish to standardize with one camera, we can simply set a Region Of Interest (ROI) and emulate various resolutions (7 in this evaluation). 

We reviewed resolutions from VGA to 2.3MP and have put in perspective to the optical format required.  

The following are several configurations you can achieve: 


2.3MP is achieved using the full frame and 2MP by setting a 1600 x 1200 ROI.  This will require a 1″ optical format lens.  






In cases, where your application only requires 1.3MP (1280 x 1024) or 1.4MP (1400 x 1050), simply set a ROI accordingly and pair with your desired 2/3″ focal length lens.




Simply need 0.5MP (800 x 600) to VGA (640 x 480)? Set your ROI accordingly and you can use any 2/3″, 1/2″ or 1/3″ format lens.








Various resolutions against the required optical format are shown in graphical form to the right and summarized below for the Sony Pregius IMX174 and IMX249 sensors


Once you have your desired resolution, you can calculate your lens focal length using our online calculator.  Using 5.86um as a pixel size, enter the effective number of pixels into the calculator along with working distance (WD) and field of view (FOV).  This will calculate your focal length in which you can then select a lens

The Sony Pregius sensors are featured by several camera manufacturers and expanding rapidly.  With pricing @ < $500 for the IMX249… Its a “No Brainer” to think about standardization!  

Why the big hype on the Sony Pregius Sensors?  These new sensors are becoming the workhorse in imaging with incredible dynamic range, sensitivity and speed.  Learn more in our blog which provides technical details and comparison images.  

1st Vision has extensive knowledge in industrial imaging and can help answer any questions.  We have over 100 years of combined knowledge and look forward to discussing your application.  

Please do not hesitate to Contact us!  1st Vision can provide a complete solution including cameras, lenses, lighting and cables.  

Ph:  978-474-0044
info@1stvision.com
www.1stvision.com  

 
Follow us on Social Media!

    https://www.facebook.com/pages/1st-Vision/944658058935262?fref=ts           

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Teledyne Dalsa Turbodrive – GigE, Faster than GigE!

What is TurboDrive?

 

TurboDrive from Teledyne Dalsa, is a technology which enables cameras to transmit information at a rate exceeding the constraints of Gige Ethernet.  TurboDrive is a patent pending innovation that uses advanced data encoding techniques that look at the redundancy in the data coming out of the sensor. It uses image entropy based encoding to model pixel information with no loss of information. This enables faster data transmission on the link as each pixel is comprised of fewer bits for encoding.

 

Machine Vision cameras have traditionally used absolute encoding over 8 to 16 bits to transmit image information. For instance, in 8-bit, each pixel takes a value ranging from 0

(black) to 255 (white). TurboDrive relies on localized relative encoding to examine each pixel in its context before encoding it. This generates a more compact encoding of the pixel information and enables TurboDrive to be more efficient by packing the same information in less bits. 

 

 

What are the benefits of TurboDrive?

 

  • Faster frame rates than GigE (125 MB/s) by up to 235%, BUT using standard GigE networks. 
  • Eliminate the need for faster interfaces (i.e Base Camera Link @ 255 MB/s), saving costs and complexity especially on long cable runs. 
  • Allows aggregate information from multiple camera onto a single link.  For example, data coming from 2 cameras could be sent on same network card.
  • More efficient method of data packaging without any loss.       
  • Its essentially free with TeledyneDalsa cameras supporting TurboDrive 

 

Data sheets for all Teledyne Dalsa cameras with TurboDrive can be found HERE.  

 

Why you should be considering this technology?

 

Watch this short video to explain the technology in detail and how to speed up your systems over standard GigE networks.  

 

Seeing is believing!

 

In addition, we have a video showing Turbodrive in action.  We used the 2.3MP Nano-1940 camera, operating over a PoE network @ 80 fps which is ~ 150% over the GigE bandwidth!

1st Vision has extensive knowledge on Teledyne Dalsa cameras and can help answer any questions. 

Please do not hesitate to Contact us for a quote and to discuss your application!  1st Vision can provide a complete solution including lenses, cables and lighting.  

Ph:  978-474-0044
info@1stvision.com
www.1stvision.com  

 
Follow us on Social Media!
    https://www.facebook.com/pages/1st-Vision/944658058935262?fref=ts