User`s manual

Piranha4 4K and 2K Dual Line Monochrome CMOS Camera User's Manual 29
Teledyne DALSA 03-032-20176-02
4. Camera Operation
Factory Settings
The camera ships and powers up for the first time with the following factory settings:
 Camera Link Full, 8 bit pixels
 Internal trigger, line rate 10 kHz
 Internal exposure control, exposure time 50 µs
 2 stage TDI
 1x horizontal and vertical binning
 Offset 0, Gain 1x
Area Mode
Using area mode in the P4 mono camera allows data rates to be twice as fast compared to TDI Stage = 1
or TDI Stages = 2.
Similar to TDI Stage = 2 mode, both the top and bottom lines of the sensor are exposed at the same time.
The difference being that instead of summing the lines, each line is read out separately. The figure below
illustrates how this is done. On the first Exsync signal, both lines are exposed and then the sensor is read
out. One line is processed and stored in camera memory while the other line is processed and sent out
the Camera Link output. The next Exsync signal does not reach the sensor, but instead the stored data is
transferred out the Camera Link port.
Exsync
Programmed
Exposure Time
Bottom Line Stored
In Memory
CL Output
Top and Bottom Lines
Read out of Sensor
Top Line
Transmitted out
Camera Link
Bottom Line
Transmitted out
Camera Link
Figure 12. Area Mode data transfer timing
It is important that the exposure time in area mode be appropriate for the set line rate. The exposure time
should not be longer than the inverse of the line rate or else the image will smear. The set scan direction is
also important. If the direction is wrong the image will look choppy, as can be seen in the following
figure.