Micron Technology USB Camera manual Sensor Control, Exposure, Gain, Frequency

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Chapter 4

SENSOR CONTROL

Exposure

The camera Exposure parameter is similar to exposure notion in photography. It defines time for which the sensor elements are gathering the energy of light.

Use the Exposure slider to adjust the camera exposure time. The current exposure time in milliseconds (ms) is displayed above the control. This value depends on viewport height, decimation and sensor frequency.

To perform Autoexposure, in the Device menu select the Auto Exposure command or simply press E keyboard.

Gain

Use the Gain controls to change the signal gain of the sensor. Increasing Gain is reasonable when light condition is poor and increasing time of exposure does not help. For color models Gain can be controlled independently for Red, Green and Blue channels (R, G, B).

Checking the Lock Ratio checkbox allows controlling gain on three channels simultaneously keeping the fixed R, G, B gain ratio.

All the Gain sliders control the camera's hardware gain amplifier. The R, G and B gain sliders control the software gain for each color channel.

Use the 'White balance (Hard)' menu item (Device> White Balance (Hard) or the 'Alt+W' keyboard shortcut to balance Gain of all three channels so they are equally intense.

Note: The R, G, B channels are disabled when running the SMX-M81M Camera, as well as White Balance (Soft) and

White Balance (Hard)

Note: Auto Exposure is done automatically every time White Balance (Hard) is performed

Frequency

This control defines the pixel clock frequency of the sensor. The lower Frequency, the higher maximum possible Exposure time and the lower Frame Rate (see chapter “Frame Rate Control” ). Use the dropdown menu (near the Gain and Exposure controls) to define Frequency.

Sensor Control: Exposure