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 PicPort®-Mono/Stereo

PicPort®-Mono, PicPort®-Stereo for monochrome analog inputs make up a comprehensive range of OEM monochrome framegrabbers. Video Image formats supported include analog CCIR, RS170 or nonstandard (incl. high resolution, high speed or dual-channel). The boards offer various real-time image conditioning functions, different synchronization modes, asynchronous acquisition, simultaneous capture, and more. The conditioned image is sent by fast DMA transfer directly to VGA and/or main memory.

Besides the standard PCI bus version, PMC module version as well as CompactPCI version of the PicPort®-Mono/Stereo series is also available.

PicPort®-Mono and PicPort®-Stereo monochrome framegrabbers are designed for:

  • standard and nonstandard monochrome analog cameras
  • simultaneous grab
  • real-time conditioning
  • image sequence acquisition
 
PicPort-Stereo-H4D

Architecture

All the PicPort® models are based on similar architecture.

I/O Interface

The PicPort® I/O interface generally comprises video input connectors, synchronization and opto-isolated trigger inputs and outputs. The exact physical hardware interface is model-specific.

Digitizers (Analog boards)

The analog PicPort®-Mono cards feature one, PicPort®-Stereo models two digitizer channels, each of them handling up to 4 video inputs. Besides the A/D converter, each digitizer channel contains additional circuits for image conditioning.

Pixel Stream Manager

The Pixel Stream Manager is the real heart of every PicPort®. It consists of two data paths (DMA channels) with different features (see the figure). Data path A features the following circuits: High Performance Scaler for fine interpolating, detail-preserving, image scaling down to approx. 40 × 40 pixels with horizontal plus vertical mirroring, Lock Mask Control for text or graphics overlay on the top of the live image and Pixel Packer and Color Space Converter to perform conversion to a desired color format.

The second data path B contains only the Binary Ratio Scaler. Both data paths contain FIFO buffers for proper synchronizing the DMA transfers.

On Board Controller (Not shown in the figure)

All boards utilize an on-board controller to guarantee performance of real time critical tasks independent of host processor or operating system.

EEPROM (Not shown in the figure)

Each PicPort® board contains a firmware EEPROM that is updated automatically by driver software en-suring compatibility between hardware and software releases. In addition two bytes of the EEPROM are available to OEM’s for use as a Software Dongle.

Image Acqusition & Conditioning

Input Format

In general PicPort® boards accept video resolutions up to 2048 × 2048, 2:1 interlaced or non-interlaced mode, pixel shape in accordance with CCIR601 or square.

PicPort®-Mono/Stereo models accept video sources compliant with CCIR or RS170 video standards. In addition many non-standard cameras, i.e. progressive scan, can also be interfaced by utilizing an easy to use Camera Editor.

Digitizer and Image Adjustments

For PicPort®-Mono/Stereo an 8 bit, 30MHz, A-to-D is used to digitize the video input. A programmable Input LUT can be used for real-time manipulation of brightness, contrast, gain and offset.

Downscaling and Mirroring

Image scaling and mirroring are operations performed by the Pixel Stream Manager with a range of functionality dependent on the data path (DMA channel) used. DMA channel A with its High Performance Scaler uses a mathematical interpolation method independently along both x and y axes, resulting in an image free from any significant loss of detail. Alternatively, when the simpler DMA channel B is used, only vertical mirroring and binary downscaling is available.

Full Color Overlay

By means of a Lock Mask feature, unique to PicPort®, image data flowing through DMA channel A can be overlaid by a 1-bit mask created as a compressed bitmap within Windows in the form of text or graphics.

Color Model Conversion

By utilizing the Pixel Packer and Color Space Converter the data on DMA channel A can be converted to monochrome or RGB with predefined color and bit depths.

Original format DMA Target format Bit use
8-bit, monochrome A & B Y8, packed 8-bit luminance
8-bit, monochrome A & B Y2, packed 2-bit luminance
8-bit, monochrome A & B Y1, packed 1-bit luminance
8-bit, monochrome A αRGB, 32-bit 8-8-8-8
8-bit, monochrome A RGB, 24-bit packed 8-8-8
8-bit, monochrome A RGB, 16-bit 5-6-5
8-bit, monochrome A αRGB, 15-bit 1-5-5-5
8-bit, monochrome A RGαB, 15-bit 5-5-1-5
8-bit, monochrome A RGB, 8-bit 3-3-2

Data Transfer

The digitized and conditioned data is transferred using two independent DMA channels directly to the CPU and/or video memory without on board intermediate storage and with minimal CPU intervention. The board acts as a PCI bus master allowing transfers at peak rates of up to 132 MB/s i.e. real time transfer for all acquisition modes.

The two independent DMA channels provide many modes of operation including:

Simultaneous transfer of video data from a single image source to main memory for processing and to video memory for display.

A dual channel camera, that outputs two fields of the same frame simultaneously, can be combined to build up a complete image in real time. Transfer of images from two synchronized cameras to two independent memory windows.

Synchronization

With PicPort®-Mono and PicPort®-Stereo models the following modes are possible:

Camera is Master and provides CVBS timing

In this mode the necessary horizontal and vertical synchronizing information is decoded from the camera’s composite CVBS video signal input. CVBS is the simplest possible synchronization mode.

Camera is Master and provides H & V timing

In addition to the video signal, the PicPort®-Mono/Stereo models accept horizontal synchronizing pulses (line valid) and vertical synchronizing pulses (field/frame valid) from the camera or other external device.

Camera is Master and provides H & V timing and Pixel Clock

This mode ensures 100% compatibility between the timing of both the camera and board and results in the precise mapping of each pixel to the same storage location every time. This technique results in a high quality noiseless image suitable for measurement applications.

Because the board is matching the rigid geometry of the camera only a single camera may be attached in this mode.

Camera is Slave

In this mode the PicPort®-Mono/Stereo generates H & V sync signals to control the attached camera(s). When several cameras are synchronized by a single PicPort®-Mono/Stereo a user application can switch between them during vertical retrace (blanking) without any image loss.

Camera is Slave, Pixel Synchronized

In Pixel Synchronized mode the PicPort® generates both H & V sync and pixel clock signals for single or multiple cameras.

Asynchronous Reset

The trigger input on the PicPort®-Mono/Stereo can be used with asynchronous reset cameras to initiate a new frame. Similarly output signals from the PicPort® can be used to control strobe lighting etc. Application note «External trigger and flash» gives good overview of applications involving external devices such as trigger and flash.

Input/Output Connector Configurations

Leutron Vision provides PicPort®-Mono/Stereo boards with a variety of connector configurations to accommodate many special application requirements as briefly described below. Detailed pin-outs and descriptions of all the multi-connectors are available at the chapter Connector description below.

Universal Camera Connector

The universal camera connector provides connections for 2 video inputs, synchronization + clock I/O and a 12 volt camera power supply.

Trigger I/O

For synchronization of events like start/stop, trigger, good/bad, input/output etc. PicPort® boards offer digital inputs and outputs, which can be controlled by software. For use in industrial environment, the signals are isolated by the use of optocouplers. To take full profit of this signal isolation, you have to connect the optocoupler to an external power supply.

The optocoupler input is prepared for input signals of 5 V or 24 V with the appropriate onboard serial resistors. For other signal levels an additional serial resistor has to be added to guarantee the proper forward current. The optooupler output is prepared for external voltage of 5 V or 24 V.

See also the following examples of optocoupler output. In industrial environment, signal levels of 24 V are usually needed.

Application note «External trigger and flash» gives good overview of applications involving external devices such as trigger and flash.

PicPort®-Mono

Has standard female BNC connectors for up to 4 video sources through a single digitizer (not simultaneously).

PicPort®-Mono-H4

Similar to the PicPort®-Mono except that the 4 video inputs are female Hirose sockets (compatible with many popular cameras). The Hirose 12-pin cable permits the use of synchronizing signals (including pixel clock), so that the board can operate in all sync modes. The cameras can also be powered from the board – up to 12 V/ 225 mA per camera.

PicPort®-Stereo

PicPort®-Stereo cards are identical to the PicPort®-Mono models but with a second digitizer channel allowing two different video signals to be captured simultaneously.

PicPort®-Stereo-H4S

PicPort®-Stereo-H4S are identical to the PicPort®-Mono-H4S models but with a second digitizer channel allowing two different video signals to be captured simultaneously.

PicPort®-Stereo-H4D

Similar to PicPort®-Stereo-H4S but designed for connecting inter-synchronized dual channel cameras (e.g. LV-7500/8500CE). Although up to four cameras may be connected only one is captured at any one time.

PicPort®-Stereo-H8

Similar in principle to the PicPort®-Mono-H4 but with eight female Hirose connectors, four connected to each digitizer.

Host Bus Interface

Based on the PCI bus Revision 2.1 specification PicPort® framegrabbers are available to suit a variety of different host buses.

PicPort®-Mono/Stereo series is currently available for standard PCI bus as well as in PMC module version and in CompactPCI bus version.

Software

Driver Software

Leutron Vision Software Development Suite, LV-SDS, is a software development package (Windows, Linux, VxWorks) that allows full control of all PicPort® and PicProdigy® products. The suite consists of Daisy - the basic software interface for PicPort®/PicProdigy® cards, Camera Editor - easy interactive setup of standard and non-standard cameras, DRAL - a library for handling specific time-critical tasks, Orchid - high level library (DLL or OCX) for quick and easy design of PicPort®/PicProdigy® applications, TWAIN Driver and Video for Windows - provide a simple interface between Leutron Vision hardware and other office and image manipulation programs (e.g. MS Office, CorelDRAW, etc.).

The software products come complete with a set of demo programs and additional examples with source code as a guide to the programmer in developing particular applications. To obtain more comprehensive information please download the LV-SDS manual.

Third Party Software

Several well-known third party packages for real-time image processing and analysis are also supported. The packages include HALCON, Activ Vision Tools, NeuroCheck, and others. Please refer to our detailed software brochure (PDF) for more details.

Connector Description, Wiring Schemes

Different versions of PicPort®-Mono and PicPort®-Stereo boards are provided with different connector interfaces (as described in Input/Output Connector Configuration). The pin wiring schemes of all the connectors are described below.

Universal camera connector

15-pin D-sub, female, same for all PicPort®-Mono/Stereo boards (standard PCI models)

Pin I/O3) Signal
5 I VIDEOIN 0 (Signal, 75 Ohm, max 1.5 Vpp)
Note: shared with BNC0 or Hirose0 pin 4 1)
10 I VIDEOIN 1 (Signal, 75 Ohm, max 1.5 Vpp)
Note: shared with BNC1 or Hirose1 pin 4 1)
15 - VIDEOIN 0&1, Ground
9 I SYNCIN1 (level/impedance programable)
13 I SYNCIN2 (level/impedance programable)
3 I CTRLIN (level/impedance programable)
2 I PCLKIN (level/impedance programable)
12 O SYNCOUT1 (TTL)
7 O SYNCOUT2 (TTL)
11 O CTRLOUT (TTL)
1 O + SYNCOUT3 (TTL/50 Ohm programable)
6 O - SYNCOUT3 (TTL/50 Ohm programable)
14 I CONID connector identification)2),
connect this pin to ground (pin 8) inside your custom cable connector
4 O power +12 VDC, protected
(board-rev 9601.1 max 700 mA),
(board-rev 9601.2 and later max 950 mA)
8 - Ground (SYNC, PCLK, CTRL, power)
case - Ground
1) Shared means that the same signal is available on both connectors.
Only one connector can be used at the time.
2) Is needed for detecting the connector by the software.
3) I = Input in PicPort, O = Output from PicPort.

Optocoupler I/O (Trigger I/O)

16-pin 2.54 mm terminal strip connector, same for all PicPort®-Mono/Stereo boards (standard PCI models)

Optional conversion cable with D-sub 15-pin connector on a PC-slot bracket is available.

Pin 1) Pin 2) Signal
3 2 Optocoupler Input A0 + 5 V Anode
5 3 Optocoupler Input A1 + 24 V Anode
7 4 Optocoupler Input K Cathode (signal ground)
6 11 Optocoupler Output Emitter
4 10 Optocoupler Output Collector
1 1 TAP 5 V, External Power Supply
2 9 TAP 24 V, External Power Supply
10 13 +5 V power (for test purpose only)
15 8 +12 V power (for test purpose only)
12 14 Common Ground (+5/12 V)
8 12 reserved, do not connect
9 5 reserved, do not connect
11 6 reserved, do not connect
13 7 reserved, do not connect
14 15 reserved, do not connect
16 NC reserved, do not connect
1) Pin numbers for the 16-pin flatcable connector CO703 on PicPort®-Mono/Stereo.
On the solder side of the board you can see, that one of the 16 pins has a square shape,
the rest has circle shapes. The one with square shape is pin 1.
2) Pin numbers for the optional female Dsub-15 connector on a PC-slot-bracket.

Hirose camera connectors

Version for PicPort®-Mono-H4, PicPort®-Stereo-H4S and PicPort®-Stereo-H8 models (Hirose 12-pin, female):

Pin I/O 1) Signal
1 - Power (Ground)
2 O Power +12 VDC
(board-rev 9601.1 max 700 mA 2))
(board-rev 9601.2 and later max 950 mA 2))
3 - VIDEOIN0..3 (Ground)
4 I VIDEOIN0..3 (Signal, 75 Ohm, max 1.5 Vpp)
5 - SYNCOUT1 (Ground)
6 O SYNCOUT1 (TTL)
7 O SYNCOUT2 (TTL)
8 - SYNCOUT3 (Ground)
9 O SYNCOUT3 (TTL)
10 - Power (Ground)
11 O Power +12 VDC (connected to pin 2)
12 - SYNCOUT2 (Ground)
1) I = Input to PicPort®, O = Output from PicPort®.
2) HiRose 0&1 (2&3) together!

Version for PicPort®-Stereo-H4D models (Hirose 12-pin, female):

Pin I/O 1) Signal
1 - Power (Ground)
2 O Power +12 VDC
(board-rev 9601.1 max 700mA2))
(board-rev 9601.2 and later max 950mA2))
3 - AVIDEOIN0..3 (Ground)
4 I AVIDEOIN0..3 channel A
(Signal, 75 Ohm, max 1.5 Vpp)
5 - SYNCOUT1 (Ground)
6 O SYNCOUT1 (TTL)
7 O SYNCOUT2 (TTL)
8 - BVIDEOIN0..3 (Ground)
9 O BVIDEOIN0..3 channel B
(Signal, 75 Ohm, max 1.5 Vpp)
10 - Power (Ground)
11 O Power +12 VDC (connected to pin 2)
12 - SYNCOUT2 (Ground)
1) I = Input to PicPort®, O = Output from PicPort®.
2) HiRose 0&1 (2&3) together!

Technical Specifications

  PicPort®-Mono/Stereo
Bus PCI (Revision 2.1)
PMC module version and CompactPCI version are also avialable
Video inputs up to 8, see below
Input format CCIR, RS170, nonstandard
Video geometry 2:1 interlaced, noninterlaced, progressive, dual channel;
resolution programmable up to 2048 × 2048
Pixel geometry CCIR601, square, programmable
Digitizers
(input channels)		 PicPort®-Mono models: 1
PicPort®-Stereo models: 2
Data digitization 30MHz
Image coding 8-bit luminance
Input LUT 256 × 8-bit per channel, independently programmable
Brightness by means of input LUT(s)
Contrast by means of input LUT(s)
Color hue n/a
Color saturation n/a
Gain programmable (by setting lower and uper conversion threshold)
Offset programmable (by setting lower and uper conversion threshold)
Downscaling horizontal 5-tap and vertical 1-tap independently interpolating scaler
Mirroring along x and/or y axes
Overlay freely programmable 1-bit lockmask stored in host memory
Color conversion monochrome or RGB target models with various color depths and data packing
8-bit VGA colors display 20 Windows system colors preserved by means of LUT
Transfer to host bus master burst DMA transfer
Transfer rate peak rate up to 132 MB/s, real time for all acquisition modes
Synchronization, inputs CVBS, H/V, pixel clock; TTL or 75 ohm
Synchronization, outputs H/V, pixel clock; RS422
Asynchronous acquisition by external HW trigger
Plugs for video universal camera connector:
  • HD-sub 15-pin female
    further connectors:
  • 4 BNC (PicPort®-Mono, PicPort®-Stereo) or
  • 4 Hirose (PicPort®-Mono-H4, PicPort®-Stereo-H4S/D) or
  • 8 Hirose (PicPort®-Stereo-H8), all female
    		•
    Trigger in/out opto-isolated
    Camera power out 12 V, protected
  • max 950 mA (board revision 2 and later)
  • max 700 mA (board revision 1)
    		•
    Power requirements PicPort®-Mono models:
  • 5V/800mA,
  • +12V/90mA,
  • -12V/20mA
    PicPort®-Stereo models:
  • 5V/900mA,
  • +12V/90mA,
  • -12V/20mA
    (when a camera is powered from the board, the power consumption is increased appropriately)
    		•
    Operating temperature 0-50 °C

    Complementary and Related Products

    Supporting software

    Comprehensive set of software tools consisting of video capture libraries and image processing libraries for Windows XP/2000/NT4, Windows Me/98/95 and for Linux. Please check especially the following ones:

    Daisy
    Video capture library of LV-SDS (Software Development Suite). Object oriented library of functions controlling all features of PicPort® and PicProdigy® boards.
    Camera editor
    An easy-to-use application enabling user to connect one of many predefined video sources or specify another, even nonstandard one.
    DRAL
    Extension libraries for Daisy providing real-time functionality of PicPort®/PicProdigy® frame grabbers.
    Orchid
    High level library for developing interactive applications with a few lines of code in visual tools like Microsoft Visual Basic, Borland Delphi, Borland C++ Builder, etc. Available as a DLL or as an OCX component.

    Suitable Cameras

    Please check the list of suitable cameras (analog monochrome models) for use with PicPort®-Mono/Stereo. The link invokes page showing wide list of different suitable cameras, allowing you to specify more criterions and restrict the list only to the cameras exactly matching your needs.

    For your convenience, we prepared some more specific camera list, you can follow one of the links below:

    Correspondent cables

    All the necessary cables for connecting a camera to the framegrabber are available.

    Related Frame Grabbers

    PicPort®-Pro-CL
    Frame grabber with CameraLink digital interface.
    PicPort®-Mono/Stereo-PMC
    PMC-module version of the PicPort®-Mono/Stereo board.
    PicPort®-Mono/Stereo-CPCI
    CompactPCI version of the PicPort®-Mono/Stereo board.

    LVmPC®

    LVmPC® is an ultra compact, mobile image processing system for industrial and machine vision, based on standard PC technology and Leutron's frame grabber series. LVmPC® is available in a huge variety of different configurations.

    Ordering Information

    Ordering number Product Description
    11010 PicPort®-Mono Standard PCI bus model, 4 BNC connectors
    11011 PicPort®-Mono-H4 Standard PCI bus model, 4 Hirose connectors
    11020 PicPort®-Stereo Standard PCI bus model, 4 BNC connectors
    11021 PicPort®-Stereo-H4S Standard PCI bus model, 4 Hirose connectors
    11022 PicPort®-Stereo-H4D Standard PCI bus model, 4 Hirose connectors intended for dual-channel cameras
    11023 PicPort®-Stereo-H8 Standard PCI bus model, 8 Hirose connectors
    Complementary products
    16028 LV-SDS Driver software developer's suit for Windows and Linux
    15000 Potoelectric reflex switch set Ready to use with PicPort®-Mono/Stereo, consists of photoelectric reflex switch, self adhesive reflective tape and mounting parts
    15012 Optocoupler test board Enables testing of the opto-isolated I/O functionality of all PicPort® framegrabbers
    14300 Cable BNC/BNC Camera cable, 1 m, BNC plugs at both ends
    14302 Cable BNC/BNC Camera cable, 3 m, BNC plugs at both ends
    14311 Cable H12m/H12f Camera cable, 2 m, 12-pin Hirose plugs at both ends
    14314 Cable H12m/H12f Camera cable, 5 m, 12-pin Hirose plugs at both ends
    14404 Cable HD15m/H12f Camera cable, 5 m, 15-pin HDsub to 12-pin Hirose; for single-channel cameras
    14414 Cable HD15m/H12f Camera cable, 5 m, 15-pin HDsub to 2 × 12-pin Hirose; for dual-channel cameras
    14××× Other cables All needed cables of various lengths
    Specifications are subject to change without notice or obligation.
    All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
    Copyright © by Leutron Vision.
    Last update: July 2004.