New Products

Software serves science The Global LAB Image/2 is a 32-bit, customizable, extensible, object-oriented software package for scientific imaging applications. It is divided into a main application and a set of imaging tools. The main application lets developers load, save, print, and modify images with the included tools. The same image can be viewed with different look-up tables, multiple regions of interest, and scaled and zoomed views simultaneously. All tools can be customized using Windows NT, Visual C++, and Microsoft Foundation Classes. Programming is completed using a point-and-click-scripting tool; no code writing is required. Data Translation, 100 Locke Dr., Marlboro, MA 01752; (508) 481-3700; Fax: (508) 481-8620.

Camera runs at 500 million frames/s The HSFC-Pro CCD camera can capture up to eight images per second at exposure times to 1.5 ns for an imaging rate of 500 million frames/s. It contains a 1280 x 1024-pixel CCD sensor and provides 12 bits of dynamic range. Light is imaged with a standard lens and channeled to four intensified CCD modules for computer monitor analysis. Pulsed lasers can be synchronized to image event dynamics. The Cooke Corp., 1091 Centre Rd., Ste. 100, Auburn Hills, MI 48326; (248) 276-8820; Fax: (248) 276-8825.

Camera inspects accurately The OPSIS 5150ALC linescan camera can perform 20 billion operations/s via pipeline processing and built-in DSP analysis for continuous web-inspection applications. The 5150 x 1 CCD is clocked at 50 MHz and can run up to 7500 lines/s at the highest resolution and can achieve speeds to 175,000 lines/s at reduced resolution. Image processing is supported by an on-board Motorola PowerPC. The camera can detect defects as a stand-alone sensor or function in a multicamera system that includes a PC, software, lighting, and lenses. Wintriss Engineering Corp., 6344 Ferris Square, San Diego, CA 92121; (619) 550-7300; Fax: (619) 550-0373.

Camera packs power The MicroImage D107 camera comes with built-in microprocessor control, autoexposure, digital-signal processing, power supply, and video cable. It contains a 1/3-in., 768 x 484-pixel image sensor and provides 470 horizontal lines in NTSC or S-Video output. Automatic shuttering ranges to 1/100,000 s. Light sensitivity at f/1.4 is 3 lux. Other features include selectable backlight compensation, two white balance modes, and auto and pushbutton manual modes. MicroImage Systems, POB 331, Boyertown, PA 19512; (610) 754-6800; Fax: (610) 754-9766.

Camera runs on PC/104 bus The EDC-104 series of CCD cameras uses the PC/104 bus for low-power, embedded computer imaging applications. All series cameras come with an interface card, camera head, software, and manual and provide resolutions to 1134 x 972 pixels. Because the PC/104 architecture is software-compatible with the ISA bus, the software used by the company's line of ISA bus cameras can be used with the PC/104 cameras. Supported operating systems include DOS and Windows 95/98/NT. Electrim Corp., 356 Wall St., Princeton, NJ 08540; (609) 683-5546; Fax: (609) 683-5882.

Sensor fits on a chip The PCS2112 1280 x 1024-pixel CMOS image sensor occupies a single chip that can convert color images into 10-bit digital pixels at up to 102 frames/s. Its patent-pending design minimizes fixed-pattern noise and provides a programmable circuit that can perform color balancing in the analog domain and on-the-fly selection of resolution, frame rate, and bit depth. The sensor array contains 1 million 7.5 x 7.5-mm active-pixel photodiodes in a 2/3-in. optical format. Each pixel cell is capped by a color filter and a microlens. The sensor consumes 180 mW maximum and operates from a single 3.3-V supply. PixelCam Inc., 1500 E. Hamilton Ave., St.e 211, Campbell, CA 95008; (408) 558-8266; Fax: (408) 558-8262.

Adapter board links PCI and FireWire The Meteor-II/1394 is an IEEE-1394-to-PCI adapter board that contains FIFO buffers for digital video capture using a PC. Based on the Texas Instruments physical/link layer chipset, it provides three external six-pin IEEE-1394 ports and draws power from the PC. The 4.7 x 4.2-in. board supports IEEE-1394-based cameras such as the Sony DFW and XCD series. Software supports includes Windows 98/NT/2000 operating systems and Matrox Imaging Library, MIL-Lite, and Matrox Inspector development toolkits. Matrox Imaging, 1055 St Regis Blvd., Dorval, Quebec, Canada H9P 2T4; (514) 685-2630; Fax: (514) 822-6273.

Camera captures fast digital video The MegaPlus ES 310 camera captures 85 frames/s of digital video. An NTSC or PAL analog video output port eases camera setup by connecting to standard TV monitors. In addition to remote serial control, the camera uses the RS-422 protocol to enable the setup and unison working of several cameras to obtain different views of a subject. Its CCD sensor provides 648 x 484 or 313,632 pixels. The pixels are 9 mm square and provide a 60% fill factor. Other features include a weight of 1.5 lb and a size of 2 x 2.7 x 6 in. Eastman Kodak Co., 11633 Sorrento Valley Rd., San Diego, CA 92121; (619) 535-2908; Fax: (619) 792-3179.

Software adds pattern matching The IMAQ Vision Version 5.0 software incorporates pattern- and color-matching virtual instruments for LabVIEW graphical measurement and instrumentation software. It can quickly and accurately locate objects regardless of size, orientation, and focus. In pattern matching, the software uses a patent-pending algorithm that can run more than 100 times faster than conventional pattern matching using gray-scale correlation algorithms. It also can measure, compare, and match colors and display images 50% faster than earlier versions. Only 1% of the pixels from the sample template and a subset of pixels from the target image are needed to complete a match. Pattern-matching software running on a Pentium MMX 200-MHz computer can find objects within 400 ms. National Instruments, 11500 N. Mopac Expwy, Austin, TX 78759; (512) 794-0100; Fax: (512) 794-5759.

Camera uses color prism The MS2100-RGB digital video camera incorporates a color -prism and three 656 x 494-pixel CCD imaging arrays to acquire nearly 1 million pixels of progressive-scan red, green, and blue image data at up to 30 frames/s. Gain, exposure, and offset can be separately controlled for each of the three imaging sensors. The camera can be tailored to filter the red, blue, and green bands to eliminate spectral overlap between channels. On-board FPGAs can be custom-configured for real-time image processing. Programmable image-tap multiplexing allows the camera to output combinations of image planes, including processed data, to a commercial frame grabber. DuncanTech Inc., 11824 Kemper Rd., Auburn, CA 95603; (530) 888-6565; Fax: (530) 888-6579.