WP's HP: HOME | SloMo: Links ~ FAQ ~ Info ~ Tips ~ [Data] ~ Clips ~ HYCAM ~ Freq. ~ f-Calculator ~ Trigger ~ Image RAM | ?Help? |Deutsch
A selection of digital high-speed cameras, Weinberger 1993 to
2008
Each SpeedCam appliance, here chosen as typical example
and due to being familiar to them, is a member of a family of fully
digital PC based electronic (video) high-speed camera systems of
the company Weinberger. They are designed as turnkey
systems like most high-speed cameras. Consisting of a camera
(head), software and depending on type with control device/host PC.
Here just a not complete comparison of different system generations
as some kind of gallery of forefathers in order to show what is
possible and how it is done.
The roots of digital high-speed camera systems go back to the
early 1980s or even before them. Their resolutions, however, were
rather low - some ten by ten pixels.
More info about other systems and manufacturers you will find in
the [SloMo Links] section of
this site.
Comparing the systems one recognizes the development to
significant better resolutions with moderately increasing frame
rates. A »Triple-K-Camera« (1 000 x 1 000 pixels per
square at 1 000 frames/sec) meets the entry level demands of
today's high-end »mainstream« market. With resolutions in the
megapixel class the image quality of high-speed film cameras is
reached making it possible to replace this technology in great
scale.
By the way: These digital high-speed cameras are often used by
professionals as digital normal speed video cameras (25 or 30
frames/sec) for making movies/videos. Their image quality is
everything one could wish for and they are possibly cheaper than
usual video cameras for professional broadcasting use. And all
speeds are possible - 25, 30, 50 or 60 frames/sec, even 24
frames/sec as used for cinema movies.
In the field of high frame rates of several 10 000 frames/sec
high-speed film cameras still have their rights. Even if the
state of the art digital video systems have already jumped over the
1 000 000 frames/sec barrier. The resolution in this
region, however, is very strictly limited then. Nevertheless
already there are sensors with about 1 000 x 1 000 pixel
at 5 000 frames/sec Full HD 1080p or with more than 2 500
frames/sec and more than 500 000 frames/sec or even more than
1 million frames/sec at reduced resolution are possible. As a rule
of thumb one can say that at maximum frequency the resolution at
least decreases proportional to that at standard frequency - 10
times faster at at least 10 times reduced resolution.
Each resolution is given by columns x lines. Specs without guarantee.
SpeedCam +2000 | SpeedCam +500, SpeedCam lite | SpeedCam 512, SpeedCam PRO, LT, G plus | SpeedCam Visario g1, g2, g3 | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dalsa CA-D1-0128A CCD | Dalsa CA-D1-0256A CCD | EG&G HS0512JAQ CCD | FhG/CSEM Cam 2000 Visario CMOS | ||||||||
Image RAM: 64MB, 128MB, 256MB | Image RAM: 64MB, 128MB, 256MB | Image RAM: 64MB, 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1GB | Image RAM: 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB; ... 48GB (g3) | ||||||||
Resolution |
Frame rates [in frames/sec] |
Resolution |
Frame rates [in frames/sec] |
Resolution |
Frame rates [in frames/sec] |
Resolution |
Frame rates [in frames/sec] |
||||
128 x 128 | 200 - 2 020 | 256 x 256 | 50 - 531 | 512 x 512 | 50 - 1 094 | 1536 x 1024 | 10 -1 106 | ||||
128 x 64 | - 4 040 | 256 x 128 | - 1 020 | 256 x 512 | - 2 031 | 1 024 x 768 | - 2 000 | ||||
128 x 32 | - 6 400 | 256 x 64 | - 1 800 | 128 x 512 | - 3 188 | 768 x 512 | - 4 000 | ||||
128 x 16 | - 11 200 | 256 x 32 | - 3 400 | 64 x 512 | - 4 457 |
512 x 192 256 x 96 (g3) 256 x 16 (g3) |
over 10 000 - 40 000 (g3) over 100 000 (g3) |
||||
Displayed without dependence on resolution in 512 x 512 non interlaced format, i.e. constant field of view. | No binning. Aspect ratio only depends on recording format. |
SpeedCam 500+/2000+ systems came to market in the early 1990s.
In the middle of the 1990s complemented by SpeedCam Lite and
SpeedCam 512.
With the SpeedCam PRO including LT (single channel variant) and G
plus (crash-proofed control host) starting in the end 1990s one
could choose between color and monochrome camera versions. Even the
mixed operation at the same host was possible.
With SpeedCam Visario the new millennium was inaugurated. The
reference class in 2001/2. Now even cameras of different memory
capacity could operate in parallel. 2004/5 SpeedCam Visario g2
continued the development to the stand-alone and crash-proofed
camera. In 2007 SpeedCam Visario g3 again pushed the landmarks
sensitivity, dynamic and frame rate in a considerable manner.
Click for image and memory [SloMo Image]
Exclusive Visario all SpeedCam systems use the full
resolution of the sensor just until 10% above the nominal frame
rate (500 frames/sec with SpeedCam +500 and SpeedCam lite and
1 000 frames/sec with SpeedCam 512 and SpeedCam PRO). Visario,
when external synchronized, is capable of about 1 100
frames/sec, but lets you pre-select the nominal frame rate of
1 000 frames/sec only. This provides some reserve for
re-synchronization. All resolution steps show this behavior. Even
with maximum frequency.
With increasing frame rates two, three and finally four lines or
columns, resp., are combined stepwise and are read out (so-called
binning). The field of view remains the same, but the quality of
the images decreases. With heavy reduction they may show then some
kind of beam structure or graded etches. The table above shows the
dependence of maximum resolution on maximum frame rate. With
SpeedCam Visario, however, the resolution (i.e. quality) remains
the same, but the field of view changes, refer to the figure on the
right and for details click [SloMo Image].
Of course, one cannot speak of quality in usual terms concerning
the harsh resolution reduction modes, but the spreading of a crack
or of a wave front can be visualized. As experience shows halving
the resolution does not cause a distinct loss of quality. Besides
one can just rotate the camera head 90° to get the high resolution
in the preference direction of the movement.
The required illumination does not increase due to the combining
of lines/columns and remains nearly the same, so a SpeedCam PRO
system does not need more light for 3 000 frames/sec with a
resolution of 128 x 512 pixels than for 1 000 frames/sec with
512 x 512 pixels.
With binning-less SpeedCam Visario time of exposure is just a
matter of shutter time or frame rate, resp. only.
The recording time depends on the resulting data amount. The
memory extension is the stable part, the rest is flexible more or
less. The following formula shows the connection (with 8 Bit = 1
Byte; 1 KByte = 1024 Byte):
Memory extension [Byte] =
= resolution [pixel] × color depth [Byte/pixel] × frame rate
[frames/sec] × recording time [sec] =
= columns × lines × 1 Byte × frame rate × recording
time
So e.g. 1 GByte, the maximum memory extension of SpeedCam
PRO, is sufficient enough for 1 GByte / (512 x 512 x
1 Byte x 1 000/sec) = 4 seconds. For 2 000
frames/sec it covers 4 seconds as well, because the column number
is halved.
SpeedCam Visario and other up to date cameras, however, operate at
a color depth per channel of 10 Bit or 12 Bit. Here the color depth
factor is then 10/8 = 1.2 [Byte/pixel] or respectively 12/8 = 1.5
[Byte/pixel].
Of course, one can voluntary reduce the frame rate and/or
resolution. A memory extension of 1 GByte lasts e.g. for 16
seconds with 250 frames/sec at 512 x 512 pixels or for 32 seconds
with the same frequency, but at 256 x 512 pixels.
By the way: As undocumented feature the systems offer limited
support of the so-called wobbling (also named sweep). When one puts
a moderate changing frequency to the SYNC IN socket, it will be
continuously taken as present recording frequency. (SpeedCam
Visario g1, however, slowly reacts in this case.) This may be
interesting for shooting ramp up sets like the start up of a
motor.
The configurations of SpeedCam +500/+2000 and SpeedCam 512
systems are somehow similar to that of SpeedCam PRO, refer to the
following description. However, they are based on a 19 inch
industrial PC with passive ISA bus board as it was state of the art
when they were developed. Possibly up to three channels per host
are available. Operating system is MS-DOS.
SpeedCam lite is lacking of the host PC section and the
possibilities associated with it. But it is designed for (extreme)
field use - easy to handle and easy to carry and it even has built
in accumulator (= rechargeable battery) and monitor.
SpeedCam PRO data and control paths
The control unit of the SpeedCam PRO (and LT, G plus) system is
based on a 19 inch rack with CompactPCI bus (PCI bus for industrial
control devices and telecommunication). For data- and control paths
and for peripherals to connect, too, refer to the figure beside.
(Of course, PC standard ports like LPT, COM, ... are
supported.)
Possibly up to four channels per host are available.
The generated data rate of up to 256 MByte/sec per channel
cannot be transferred to the computer section (Intel Pentium or
Celeron CPU) in real time, because a PCI based bus offers a
theoretic capacity of maximum 132 MByte/sec (33 MHz with
32 Bit bandwidth) only. Therefore the image data of each channel
are spooled to DRAM benches on the according ADMEM (= A/D
conversion + memory) card and later they are written through the
MONCON (= monitor + control) card to the harddisk of the host PC.
All image data, even those already stored on the harddisk, can be
replayed any times on the host PC and on the TV monitor or can be
sent to a video recorder, resp.
SpeedCam PRO systems can be remote controlled by Ethernet and run
under Windows 95.
The at first sight obsolete concept, however, claims its position
even nowadays by allowing to keep the camera head comparatively
small, light-weight and simple.
If one separates the real camera control from the computer, one
will get two devices, but one will have to connect the computer
(e.g. a notebook) for parameter setting and download of data only,
while during the test the control unit is keeping the system in
operation. For the use of multi-head systems onboard crash test
vehicles with their restricted weight loads and spaces an advantage
not to underestimate.
Other manufacturers continue to use this setup as well. It is
common sight in industrial image processing.
High-speed camera SpeedCam Visario g1 data and control paths
The SpeedCam Visario system is a representative of the
forward-looking conception on the way to the intelligent
stand-alone camera. But still the intelligence of the system is not
located in the camera head itself. It, however, differs from the
previously described systems: The functionality of the ADMEM card
is integrated in the camera head. Thus according to the memory
extension up to 8 GByte data are buffered in it. And the
according PCI bus card is called MULTICON due to its capability of
driving up to 20 cameras, 4 directly and 4 with each of up to 4
Linkboxes, in real time. Theses devices, especially the MULTICON,
take over the real control part inside the system.
One basic feature of Visario is the single cable solution with
data transmission in real-time: WideLink and LocalLink cables carry
control, synchronization and trigger signals and the latter even
offer the power supply function. Therefore the blue and yellow
control cables are optional.
Please take notice of the propagation direction of the control
signals. There is no way back for them from the camera to the
Linkbox or the host PC. There exists a path from the host PC to the
Linkbox and further on to the camera only.
The Linkbox and its cameras can operate in stand alone mode, i.e.
without connection to the host PC. The crash-proofed Linkbox offers
PAL or NTSC live images for adjusting jobs, e.g. covering the setup
in order to prepare a crash-test vehicle. Like systems with central
control unit of other manufacturers, too, this concept is
especially useful for multi-channel systems in complex and/or
widely spread test setups.
The distance between host PC and Linksplitter can be extended to
some 100 m using a fiber optic transmitter device. The Linkbox
can be remote controlled by cable or by radio.
A crash-proofed battery back-up device is available optionally as
stand-alone or as set-top box for each camera offering operation
without external power supply.
One can integrate Visario in an Ethernet network and especially
using the Corba software interface it can be remote controlled.
Operating system is Windows 2000. Currently also Windows XP.
Cine SpeedCam function blocks
Optimized for the use in broadcast and movie business the Cine SpeedCam system (www.cine-speedcam.com)
is based on the Visario architecture with a modified and revised
Visario camera core and a special sensor selection. (Of course, the
image quality demands for a camera system used in movie and
advertising business are really extraordinary. The least feature is
the completely pixel-fault free sensor. Because already the Visario
standard cameras are selected according to this demand. The Cine
SpeedCam, however, marks a break-through for digital high-speed
cameras in HDTV and movie making use.)
Therefore the standard equipment inclusive Linkbox can be used
despite its complete different design and entire black
finish.
Moreover the camera head offers an additional real-time PAL or
NTSC viewfinder and extended visualization, trigger and power feed
possibilities.
The host in the Cine SpeedCam rack is equipped with additional
real-time high definition video cards and with fast buffer SCSI
harddisks providing a short time to render and to replay the
sequence on HDTV level.
(The well-known Cine SpeedCam Mark II or »Cine g2«, is a thoroughly selected, reworked and upgraded SpeedCam Visario g2 with superior image quality.)
SpeedCam Visario g2 function blocks
The variation of an all-in-one self-contained high-speed camera
is marked by SpeedCam Visario g2. Here PC and control interfaces
(I/O like trigger, synchronization and IRIG-B time code) are
integrated in a crash-proofed camera head together with the further
improved Visario camera core. It comes with basic control software
onboard.
Visario g2 offers the possibility to gain a live image at the
camera directly. Thus the camera operates like a camcorder.
The basic connection is provided by standard Gigabit Ethernet
(100/1000Base-TX) to a PC or a LAN. Its built in operating system
is Embedded Linux.
Cascading optional crash-proofed control devices (Crashunit,
Crashswitch) allow controlling and power supply of local Visario
g2 groups and of cameras out of the SpeedCam Mini-/MacroVis
series (and Mikrotron Cube series) in complex test setups. There
are third party manufacturers for this kind of power and signal
hubs apart from the camera manufacturers as well.
In easy terms a table-top power supply and a notebook with an
Internet browser are sufficient to operate the camera. A basic
camera control software package is already installed on the
camera.
Integration of a harddisk, of a flash disk, of a video output
(NTSC or PAL) or of a fiber optic interface (1000Base-FX) is
possible.
An additional integrated crash-proofed rechargeable battery
(inclusive recharging electronics) enabling complete camera
operation for up to 2 hours is available.
Mixed operation of different SpeedCam Visario cameras at the same control host or in the LAN is possible. Supported by a common software interface SpeedCam MiniVis and MacroVis cameras and those of third party manufacturers as well can be integrated as well. Operating system is Windows 2000 or XP.
High-speed camera SpeedCam Visario g3
Functionally built up alike and even designed in a housing of
the same size the all in black finished and completely new
developed high-end high-speed camera SpeedCam Visario g3 offers a
ten times increase of the significant specs - frame rate - image
memory - sensitivity/dynamic - compared to the SpeedCam Visario g2.
The crash test ability is not killed by that. 12 bit color depth
per channel and its image quality lifts it above Cine SpeedCam
level. The edge of what is ingeniously feasible, however, is
reached.
Because the interfaces are the same for Visario g2 and Visario g3
all the equipment can be used for both, even the same cables. Also
like with g2 among others internal harddisk and crash-proofed
rechargeable battery are available.
2010 the Fraunhofer Institut IIS in Erlangen, Germany, supplies
its camera studio with an additional multi channel system.
To the SpeedCam sample sequences:
TOUR
©WP (1998 -) 2012
http://www.fen-net.de/walter.preiss/e/slomodat.html
Update: V8.4, 2012-03-02