IOI Redwood Industrial Cameras

Description

IOI Redwood Industrial Cameras

HIGH RESOLUTION AND HIGH FRAME RATE

The Redwood™ series is a family of high-throughput industrial video cameras designed with some of the fastest high-resolution CMOS image sensors available today.  The 654G71 models feature the all-new Gpixel GMAX3265, a 35mm-format 65.4MP global shutter sensor.  At full 9344 x 7000 resolution, using the high-speed 10-bit ADC mode, frame rates up to 71fps (8-bit output) or 57fps (10-bit output) can be achieved.  Using the high dynamic range 12-bit mode, frame rates up to 31fps (8/10/12-bit output) are possible.  The 3.2μm square pixels use low-noise charge-domain global shutter technology for artifact-free motion imaging, as well as light pipe technology for excellent quantum efficiency, high shutter efficiency and broad angular response.  Both monochrome and color camera models are available to suit a variety of applications in industrial and scientific imaging, wide area observation, as well as virtual reality and special effects.

ADVANCED GLOBAL SHUTTER SENSORS

The CMOS image sensors used in the Redwood camera series feature advanced charge-domain global shutter capability with light pipe technology.  Global shutter means all pixels across the sensor capture light during the same period of time.  In contrast, sensors which use a rolling shutter technique will stagger the start of exposure throughout the rows of the image.  This leads to motion artifacts in fast-moving scenes, as well as uneven frame illumination if bright flashes occur partway through the exposure period.  At the pixel level, global shutter capability is implemented through in-pixel circuitry, however as pixel sizes are decreased to allow higher resolutions, too much in-pixel circuitry reduces the pixel’s sensitivity.  The Gpixel GMAX3265 sensor features a modern charge-domain global shutter design which minimizes in-pixel circuitry, as well as light pipe technology to maximize the light-gathering capability of each pixel.  These features work together to provide top-quality high-resolution images of fast-moving objects without motion artifacts.

HIGH SPEED DIGITAL VIDEO OUTPUTS

CoaXPress is a standardized high-bandwidth digital video interface for transmission of video data over single or multiple coaxial cables. Developed as a next-generation standard for the machine vision industry, CoaXPress combines high-speed serial link technology and low-cost coaxial cables to form a bidirectional full-duplex communication link between video sources (ie. cameras) and video receivers (ie. frame grabbers or DVRs).  With advancements in image sensor technology, a high-performance interface is needed to allow the full bandwidth of these sensors to be utilized.  The throughput limits of existing video interfaces such as 1-10 GigE Vision, USB3 Vision, and even Camera Link are easily eclipsed by the bandwidth of sensors such as those used in the Redwood camera series.  Additionally, system designers using cameras with these interfaces are faced with limitations regarding cable length, robustness, complexity, and cost.  The Redwood 654G71 models feature four CoaXPress outputs, each capable of 12.5Gbps data rate for a combined 50Gbps total throughput from the camera.

MULTI-ROI READOUT, SUBSAMPLING AND BINNING FEATURES

Several image formatting and manipulation features are provided in the feature set of the Redwood camera series.  For inspection applications, a single camera can be used to provide highly detailed images of a wide area, but if known regions of interest (ROI) within the field of view are the only portions needing to be inspected, the camera’s multiple-ROI readout feature can minimize the data needing to be transferred to the processing system.  Up to 16 separate non-overlapping window areas can be created, and a composite image of those regions is transmitted rather than the entire sensor image.  This can help to also increase the camera’s frame rate, as the sensor will skip rows above, between and below the defined ROIs.  Other features allow for optimizing the camera’s output data rate in different ways.  Subsampling (pixel skipping) allows the full field of view to be transmitted at a lower resolution, but at higher frame rates.  Binning and Averaging (digital, off-sensor) allow for optimization of the sensitivity or signal-to-noise ratio of the delivered images.

HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE

The Redwood 654G71 offers several options for optimizing how much dynamic range of a scene can be captured in each image.  Some applications have controlled lighting and high contrast details to be imaged, in which case the GMAX3265’s high-speed 10-bit ADC mode may be used, which provides the fastest frame rates from the sensor.  In other applications, a wide range of brightness exists within the scene, calling for the GMAX3265’s high dynamic range 12-bit ADC mode to be used, which lowers the frame rate in some configurations.  In both ADC modes, a high dynamic range exposure mode is available to further extend the dynamic range capabilities of the camera.  In normal exposure modes, operators must decide the exposure time to be applied to all pixels in the sensor for that frame period.  In the case of high dynamic range scenes, this is often at the expense of either shadow or highlight details.  With the Interleaved HDR exposure mode, operators can independently control the exposure time of the odd and even rows of the sensor, allowing two separate exposures to occur within the same frame period.  With post-processing image fusion tools, final images can be produced with greatly increased intra-frame dynamic range.