PHOTON FAQ - DIGITAL VIDEO
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1. What methods are available to acquire digital data using Photon?

Currently there are three possible ways to acquire digital data:

1) Photon outputs digital data in a serial low-voltage differential signal (LVDS) format. This data is available at the 30-pin connector on the camera core. In addition, serial LVDS is available at the 15-pin wearsaver connector of the Photon 320 camera (26-pin connector for the Photon 640 camera) as well as the digital data port on the I/O module. The wearsaver connector and I/O module are accessory kit items. The Photon User's Guide provides the necessary pinouts and timing diagrams for interfacing directly to the Photon camera core electrical functions, including digital data.

2) FLIR / Indigo’s Ethernet Module for Photon provides camera control functions, and converts serial LVDS into real-time streaming uncompressed video data. The Module interfaces into a standard RJ-45 Ethernet network and runs at standard 100 megabit or full gigabit Ethernet speed. The Module includes the Ethernet interface adapter, camera cabling, and power supply. The Module allows capture of both 8-bit digital data and the full 14-bit digital data. Analog video is also output via separate BNC connector. The Photon control software (GUI) provides Ethernet Module support to allow camera control and video display in a host computer window. The Photon SDK, a separate optional accessory, also provides this functionality. The Photon 320 Ethernet Module part number is 421-0025-00. The Photon 320 Ethernet Module part number is 421-0031-00. Ethernet Modules require the camera to have either the 15-pin wearsaver connector installed on a Photon 320 camera, or the 26-pin connector (part of the EMI rear cover assembly) installed on a Photon 640 camera.

3) FLIR / Indigo’s optional serial-in, parallel-out (SIPO) module (part number 333-0017-00) converts the serial LVDS into a parallel data format that can be accessed via a frame grabber. The SIPO mates directly to the I/O module’s digital data port, and furnishes a 68-pin connector that can be attached to a frame grabber via a digital interface cable. One frame grabber possibility is the National Instruments IMAQ PCI-1422 board using digital interface cable part number 308-0013-00. Another frame grabber option is the Bit Flow RoadRunner Model 14 board using digital interface cable part number 308-0016-00-03. Both of these frame grab boards require third-party software not offered or supported by FLIR / Indigo. Setup files for the NI IMAQ and Bit Flow Road Runner frame grabbers can be downloaded from the Software Updates page, however, we do not formally support their use, nor do we claim or guarantee that these setup files will be suitable for any particular use or application. It is important to note that FLIR does not market the Photon as a scientific or R&D camera. We intentionally limit the information in this third option to avoid having customers perceive Photon as a science camera, since there is a natural tendency for challenging questions to otherwise result.


2. What is needed in order to create my own application to control and/or acquire digital data using Photon?

The SDK enables camera control using one of several programming languages, including VB6, VB.net, C#, and C++ (MFC). Code examples are included to help illustrate how some of the camera control functions can be used.

The Photon OEM GUI (refer to http://www.corebyindigo.com/service/softwareupdates.cfm) is an example of an application created using the Photon SDK.


3. Is Photon’s 14-bit digital output (serial LVDS) true usable 14-bit data from the array?

The output of Photon is true 14-bit resolution. The user can select between 14-bit “filtered” data and 14-bit “raw” data. The filtered digital data is processed to apply non-uniformity compensation (NUC) terms, noise reduction, digital data enhancement (DDE, a sharpening filter), and bad pixel replacement. The raw digital data also applies NUC terms and noise reduction, but does not implement DDE filtering or bad pixel replacement.


4. Is the digital data from Photon signed or unsigned integer?

It is unsigned 16-bit data. The range is 0 to 16383. Higher counts equal higher relative temperature.


5. Is there Linux support for Photon?

The Photon embedded SDK contains ‘C’ source code to compile in other operating systems such as Linux. There is a basic example in the SDK that would work in the Linux environment. The example contains the commands needed for a customer to write their own Photon control application. The Photon SDK part number is 110-0102-46.


6. Can the camera be completely controlled using a PCI-1422 frame grabber card?

No. Only digital data passes through the SIPO.


7. Can the camera accept an external sync from the PCI-1422 to command the camera to digitize imagery at 30 frames per second?

No. Only digital data passes through the SIPO. External sync is only available via the 30-pin SAMTEC connector, which is the primary electrical interface to the camera.


8. Is there another way for the camera to accept an external sync using the PCI-1422?

A custom cable could be developed by the customer that interfaces from the SAMTEC connector directly to the frame grabber, thus obviating the SIPO limitations. This is necessary because there is no SYNC signal through the 15-pin connector. Such a cable would need to be bifurcated to provide a path for input power to the camera.


9. Can the frame grabber be used to command the camera to perform a NUC ‘on demand’?

No. Only digital data passes through the SIPO.


10. Can the frame grabber be used to turn on and off AGC and adjust contrast and brightness? Can we read out the NUC parameters from the camera?

No. Only digital data passes through the SIPO.


11. Can the camera data be streamed to disk over the PCI-1422 card and displayed real time?

This is up to the type of application that’s grabbing the frames. An application could be written in LabVIEW that would do this.