Basler BIP-640c User manual

Basler IP Camera
User’s Manual
Document Number: AW000721
Version: 04 Language: 000 (English)
Release Date: 8 April 2009

Contacting Basler Support Worldwide
Europe:
Basler AG
An der Strusbek 60 - 62
22926 Ahrensburg
Germany
[email protected]
Americas:
Basler, Inc.
855 Springdale Drive, Suite 160
Exton, PA 19341
U.S.A.
[email protected]
Asia:
Basler Asia Pte. Ltd
8 Boon Lay Way
# 03 - 03 Tradehub 21
Singapore 609964
[email protected]
www.basler-ipcam.com
All material in this publication is subject to change without notice and is copyright
Basler Vision Technologies.

Table of Contents
Basler IP Camera i
Table of Contents
1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 About this Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.3 Firmware Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.4 Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Accessing the Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3 Configuring the Camera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2 Accessing the Configuration Tools and Camera Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.3 Image Control Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.4 Streaming Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.5 Motion Detection Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.6 Alarm Handling Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.7 Network Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.8 Input / Output Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.9 User Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.10 System Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4 The Terminal Connector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5 Day/Night Functionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5.2 IR-Cut Filter Control Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6 Technical Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
6.1 BIP-640c and BIP1000c Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
6.2 BIP-1300c and BIP-1600c Specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
6.3 Stress Test Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Revision History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Table of Contents
ii Basler IP Camera

Introduction
Basler IP Camera 1
1 Introduction
1.1 About this Document
This document is intended for administrative users of the camera. Previous experience with
networking will be a great help when using this document.
This document assumes that you have already followed the instructions in the Installation Guide to
install your camera.
1.2 Precautions
CAUTION
Electrical Shock Hazard
Touching the camera’s internal components may result in an electrical shock.
1. Do not open the camera housing. The housing contains no user serviceable
parts.
NOTICE
The camera is not designed for outdoor use and can be damaged by excessively damp or wet
conditions.
1. If you are using the camera outdoors, you should mount the camera in a weatherproof
housing.

Introduction
2Basler IP Camera
WEEE Directive
The European Union has enacted Directive 2002/96/EC on Waste Electrical and Electronic
Equipment (the WEEE Directive). This directive is only applicable in European Union member
states.
A WEEE symbol (see left) on this product or its documentation indicates that the
product must not be disposed of with other waste. The product must be disposed of
via an approved, environmentally safe recycling process. For more information
about how you can return unusable equipment for correct disassembly and
environmentally friendly disposal, please visit our website:
www.basler-ip.com
1.3 Firmware Updates
To ensure that your camera’s functionality is up to date, you should periodically check the Basler
website to see if a firmware update file is available. The website address is: www.basler-ip.com.
Section 3.10.1 on page 48 explains how to identify the current firmware version on your camera,
and Section 3.10.3 on page 51 explains how to perform a firmware update.

Introduction
Basler IP Camera 3
1.4 Overview
RJ-45 Network / PoE - Provides a 10/100 Ethernet connection and can be used to connect
Power over Ethernet (IEEE 802.3af) to the camera.
Terminal Connector - Provides connections for a direct power input to the camera,
connections for the camera’s input and output lines, and connections for a standard RS-232
serial port that can be used to control an external device. See Section 4 on page 57 for
detailed information about the terminal connector.
DC Iris Control - Provides a connection for a DC auto iris.
CS-mount Lens Adapter - Provides a point to mount a CS-mount lens or a C-mount lens on
the camera (a 5 mm extension tube is required with a C-mount lens).
Terminal
Connector
RJ-45
Network / PoE
DC Iris
Control
CS-mount
Lens Adapter
1/4’’
Standard
Tripod
Mount
M3 Mounting Holes
(8 total)
Fig. 1: Camera Connections

Introduction
4Basler IP Camera

Accessing the Camera
Basler IP Camera 5
2 Accessing the Camera
The following instructions assume that you have used the Installation Guide to install your camera
and that you know either the IP Address or the host name of your camera.
Your camera can be accessed from most standard operating systems using a web browser. The
recommended browser is Windows™ Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher.
Accessing the Camera From a Web Browser
1. Start your web browser.
2. If you know the IP Address of your camera, enter the IP Address in the Address field of your
browser. For example: http:/169.254.24.48
(If you don’t know the IP address you can find it using the Basler BIP Finder software as
described in the IP Camera Installation Guide.)
If you know the host name of your camera and if your network has a properly configured domain
name server, enter the host name in the Address field of your browser. For example, for a
camera with a host name of Basler-12345678 you would enter: http://basler-12345678
3. Your browser will connect to the camera’s web server and the Basler Surveillance Web Client
will be displayed. Assuming that the camera is set to the defaults, a live MJPEG video stream
will be displayed in the Live Stream 0 tab as shown below.

Accessing the Camera
6Basler IP Camera

Configuring the Camera
Basler IP Camera 7
3 Configuring the Camera
This section describes how to configure your camera. It is intended to be used by Administrators
who have full access rights to the camera.
3.1 Introduction
When adjusting the parameters used to configure the camera, it helps to have an overview of the
camera’s functionality in mind. Figure 2 on page 9 shows a block diagram of the camera outlining
the basic functional units in the camera and shows how they are related.
As shown in Figure 2, the camera includes a sensor that captures images. The images are passed
from the sensor to a microprocessor. In the microprocessor, a variety of tasks are performed on the
captured images such as white balancing and motion detection. Note that there is a path from the
microprocessor to the imaging sensor. This path allows the processor to control how the sensorwill
capture images (e.g., the size of the image area captured and the image capture rate).
Once images are captured and processed, they are passed to three separate video encoders in the
camera. These encoders are designated as the stream 0 encoder, the stream 1 encoder, and the
stream 2 encoder. Each encoder can be configured separately. The stream 0 encoder is always
enabled and can be configured to use MJPEG (motion JPEG), MPEG4, or H.264 video encoding.
The stream1 andstream2encoders can be enabled ordisabledby the userand thesetwostreams
can only be set to use MJPEG video encoding.
Each encoder feeds a live buffer and an alarm buffer. As shown in the drawing, multiple network
devices (usually computers) can access each encoder stream. A device can access the live buffer
for a stream, the alarm buffer for a stream, or both. A device can also open multiple connections to
the camera’s streams (each connection is commonly referred to as a "network stream").
In essence, the camera can produce up to three differently configured video streams and each
stream can be accessed by multiple network users.
Normal Operating Mode and Configuration Mode
As shown in Figure 2, there are groups of parameters that affect the functionality of the camera at
various stages of its operation. You configure the camera by setting these parameters.
When the camera is in its "normal" operating mode, it captures images, processes them, encodes
them, and streams them to external devices via the network connection. In normal mode, most of
the camera’s parameters can be changed, and a change to a parameter will have an immediate
effect on theoperation of the camera. If you takea look at the screen shot ofthe Basler Surveillance
Web Client on page 11, you will see a list of parameter groups on the left side, such as Image
Controls, Streaming, Motion Detection, Alarm Handling, etc. Except for the Streaming group, the
parameters in each group can be adjusted while the camera is in normal mode and is capturing and

Configuring the Camera
8Basler IP Camera
streaming images. When you use the web client to open any parameter group (except the
Streaming group) and you adjust a parameter, you will find that the camera captures and streams
images normally.
The parameters in the Streaming group can only be adjusted when the camera is in "configuration"
mode, and when the camera is in configuration mode, it can not stream images. When you open
the Streaming parameters group in the web client, the camera will automatically be placed in the
configuration mode and will stop streaming images. (You will notice that the images displayed in
the web browser are still refreshed about once per second when the camera is in configuration
mode, but these images are not streamed out of the camera.). When you finish adjusting the
parameters in the Streaming group and you close the group, the camera will automatically return to
normal mode and begin streaming.
Capture Frame Rate and Stream Frame Rate
Animagethathasbeencapturedby thecamerais commonly called a "frame", and the rateat which
the camera captures images is referred to as the "frame rate". Normally, the camera will attempt to
encode and stream frames at the same rate at which they are being captured by the imaging
sensor. But there are several factors that can limit this capability.
If you are capturing images using the full image area of the sensor, it may put such a large load on
the encoder(s) that they will not be able to encode and stream every image captured by the sensor.
This is especially true if multiple encoders are enabled and if many devices are accessing the
stream from each encoder. If the encoders cannot encode and stream images at the same rate that
the sensor is capturing them, the encoders will simply drop some of the captured images and
encode at a lower rate. You could address this situation by decreasing the size of the images
captured by the imaging sensor, i.e., decreasing the sensor AOI (see Section 3.4.1 on page 16).
This will decrease the load on the encoders and allow them to encode at a higher rate.
Another factor that can affect the rate at which the encoders encode and stream images is the
general load on the camera’s microprocessor. If you have enabled many of the camera’s functions
simultaneously, it could place a high load on the camera’s microprocessor and thus decrease the
microprocessor’s ability to operate the encoders. Forexample, if you enabled motion detection with
a large mask area and fine granularity, you enabled several alarm sources and alarm actions, and
you enabled serial port forwarding, you may find that the encoders are encoding at a rate that is
lower than images are being captured by the sensor.
Note that there is an easy way to determine the current rate at which an encoder is encoding and
streaming images. If you simply add the $fps$ expression to the text overlay setup for the stream,
the text overlay on the streamed images will display the current rate at which the images are being
encoded and streamed. For example, if you added the $fps$ expression to the text overlay setup
for encoder stream 0, the images in stream 0 would display the current rate in the text overlay. See
Section 3.4.1 on page 16 for more information about setting text overlays.
If you close the web browser with the Streaming parameters group open,
streaming will remain stopped! To restart the image streams from the camera,
you must restart the web browser, open the Streaming parameters group, and
thenclosethe Streaming parameters group. When you close the group, streaming
will restart.

Configuring the Camera
Basler IP Camera 9
Imaging
Sensor
Stream 0
Encoder
Camera
Global
Parameters
(Sensor AOI
and masks)
Image
Control
Parameters
Alarm
Parameters
I/O
Parameters
Motion
Detection
Parameters
System
Parameters
Stream 0
Parameters
Live
Buffer
Alarm
Buffer
MJPEG, MPEG 4
or H.264
Stream 1
Encoder
Stream 1
Parameters
Live
Buffer
Alarm
Buffer
MJPEG
Stream 2
Encoder
Stream 2
Parameters
MJPEG
Microprocessor
Network
Parameters
Network Hardware
Network
Device
Network
Device
Network
Device
Network
Device
Network
Device
Network
Device
Network
Device
Network
Device
Network
Device
Digital I/O
Web
Server
Live
Buffer
Alarm
Buffer
Control and
Processing
Fig. 2: Camera Block Diagram
Serial Port

Configuring the Camera
10 Basler IP Camera
3.2 Accessing the Configuration Tools and
Camera Parameters
1. If you have not already done so, start your web browser and access the Basler Surveillance
Web Client in your camera as described in Section 2 on page 5.
2. When the Basler Surveillance Web Client opens as shown below, click the Configuration
button on the left side of the Basler tool bar.

Configuring the Camera
Basler IP Camera 11
3. A Camera Configuration menu will open on the left side of the client as shown below. Notice
that the parameters used to configure the camera appear in groups such as the Image Controls
group and the Streaming group.
You can open a parameter group by clicking the +sign beside the group name.
By default, the camera is set so that video stream 0 is an MJPEG stream, and a Live Stream 0 tab
will appear in the client as shown above. A live video stream will appear in the tab.
Click the Stop button to stop live image streaming. (A Start button will appear, which will
let you restart the live stream.)
Click the Snapshot button to capture a single image within a new browser window.
Refresh Rate - The Refresh Rate box displays the rate at which the images displayed in the web
client are refreshed. Use the + and - buttons to change the refresh rate.
Note that changing the Refresh Rate setting will not change the rate at which the camera captures
or streams images. The Refresh Rate setting only affects the rate at which images are displayed in
the web client in your browser. Some browsers perform poorly when set to a high refresh rate.
Opening and closing parameter groups or switching from one tab to another will work very slowly if
the refresh rate is too high. The default refresh rate of 5 fps works well in most situations.
If more than one video stream is enabled, there will be an additional Live Stream tab available for
each enabled stream.
Click the Plugin Help button to get information about installing the plugins needed to
view live streams in your web browser.
Stop
Snapshot
Plugin Help

Configuring the Camera
12 Basler IP Camera
3.3 Image Control Parameters
The parameters in the Image Controls group control the quality of the images captured by the
camera's imaging sensor.
3.3.1 Auto Tab
Exposure Mode - Sets the camera’s exposure mode.
Normal = The camera will automatically adjust exposure time and
gain to maintain good overall image quality as lighting conditions
change.
Fast Shutter = The camera’s automatic exposure and gain
adjustments will be biased toward shorter exposure times suitable
for situations where the camera is viewing fast motion.
Low Noise = The camera’s automatic exposure and gain
adjustments will be biased toward capturing the highest quality,
lowest noise images possible.
Low Light = The camera’s automatic exposure and gain
adjustments will be biased toward longer exposure times suitable
for situations where the camera is operating in low light conditions.
Manual = The exposure time and gain are manually controlled. You
can set the exposure time and gain by using the parameters on the
Manual tab. (If you set the Exposure Mode parameter to manual,
the Shutter Mode and the Gain Mode parameters on the Manual tab
will automatically be set to Manual.)
Note that the operation of the automatic exposure and gain controls will be strongly influenced by
the placement of the auto brightness mask. For more information about the auto brightness mask,
see page 21.
ExposureOffset - Is used to customize the operation of the camera’s automatic controls. Negative
settings will bias the auto controls toward producing darker images. Positive settings will bias the
auto controls toward producing lighter images.
Gamma - Sets the degree of gamma correction applied to captured images. Gamma corrects the
captured images for non-linearities in the human eye’s perception of brightness.
A setting of 100 represents a gamma correction factor of 1, and the appearance of the captured
images will not be changed. A setting of 50 represents a gamma correction factor of 0.5. A setting
of 150 represents a gamma correction factor of 1.5.
Sharpness - Sets the sharpness of the images transmitted by the camera. Higher settings produce
sharper images.
Saturation- Sets the color saturation of the images transmitted by the camera. Higher settings
produce more saturated (colorful) images.

Configuring the Camera
Basler IP Camera 13
Backlight Compensation - Check the box to enable the camera’s backlight compensation
feature. This feature automatically compensates when the main lighting comes from behind the
image subject.
White Balance Mode - Sets the camera’s automatic white balance mode.
Auto = The camera will automatically adjust the white balance and the white balance
adjustments will be continuously updated as lighting conditions change. The white balance
control will assume average lighting conditions.
The automatic white balance control attempts to continuously balance the intensity of the red,
green, and blue pixels in the captured images so that the white areas of the captured images
always appear white (and not, for example, red tinted or green tinted).
Note that the operation of the automatic white balancing function will be strongly influenced by
the placement of the white balance mask. For more information about the white balance mask,
see page 20.
Auto (limited) = The camera will attempt to identify the type of lighting present (i.e., daylight,
incandescent, fluorescent, etc.) and then will automatically adjust the white balance based on
the lighting type detected. This selection works best when the lighting conditions are uniform.
Daylight = The camera will automatically change the white balance settings so that they are
biased for daylight lighting conditions (a color temperature of 5500 K). Once the settings are
changed, the white balance will stay fixed at that point.
Incandescent = The camera will automatically change the white balance settings so that they
are biased for incandescent lighting (a color temperature of 3000 K). Once the settings are
changed, the white balance will stay fixed at that point.
Fluorescent I = The camera will automatically change the white balance settings so that they
are biased for normal fluorescent lighting (a color temperature of 2700 K). Once the settings
are changed, the white balance will stay fixed at that point.
Fluorescent II = The camera will automatically change the white balance settings so that they
are biased for bright fluorescent lighting (a color temperature of 4000 K). Once the settings are
changed, the white balance will stay fixed at that point.
Manual = White balance is manually controlled. You can set the white balance by using
parameters on the Manual tab.
CTT = This setting is not intended for field use and should be avoided.
Iris Mode - Sets the camera’s iris mode.
Auto = The iris will be automatically controlled by the camera.
Open = The iris is fully open.
Closed = The iris is fully closed.
Manual = This setting is not intended for field use and should be avoided.
The Open and Closed settings can be used to test the functionality of an iris mechanism.
Note that the operation of the automatic iris control will be strongly influenced by the placement of
the auto brightness mask. For more information about the auto brightness mask, see page 21.

Configuring the Camera
14 Basler IP Camera
IR Filter Mode - Sets the mode of operation for the camera’s IR-cut filter. (This setting is only
available on day/night cameras.)
Auto = The camera automatically senses the change from night to day or from day to night and
sets the position of the camera’s IR-cut filter accordingly.
Open = The IR-cut filter is moved to the open position and kept there.
Closed = The IR-cut filter is moved to the closed position and kept there.
Input Pin 0 Controlled = The position of the IR-cut filter will be controlled by the state of input
pin 0.
For detailed information about the operation of the IR-cut filter in day/night cameras see Section 5
on page 63.
3.3.2 Manual Tab
Shutter Mode - Sets the camera’s shutter mode.
Auto = The camera will automatically adjust exposure time to
maintain good overall image quality as lighting conditions change.
Manual = The Exposure Time (µs) parameter (see below) is used to
set the exposure time in microseconds for each captured image.
Gain Mode - Sets the camera’s gain mode.
If the Gain Mode parameter is set to auto, the camera will automatically
adjust the gain to maintain good overall image quality as lighting
conditionschange.IftheGainMode parameterissettomanual,then the
Gain parameter is used to set the gain.
Exposure Time (µs) - If the Exposure Mode parameter on the Auto tab is set to manual or if the
Shutter Mode parameter is set to manual, then the Exposure Time (µs) parameter is used to set the
exposure time in microseconds for each captured image.
Gain - If the Exposure Mode parameter on the Auto tab is set to manual or if the Gain Mode
parameter is set to manual, then the Gain parameter is used to set the camera’s gain. Gain refers
to the amount of amplification that is applied to the pixel values in each captured image. A higher
setting means more amplification.
Whitepoint X - If the White Balance Mode parameter on the Auto tab is set to manual, then the
Whitepoint X parameter can be used to adjust the red/cyan balance in the captured images.
Decrease the setting to made the images more red, and increase the setting to make the images
more cyan.
Whitepoint Y - If the White Balance Mode parameter on the Auto tab is set to manual, then the
Whitepoint Y parameter can be used to adjust the green/purple balance in the captured images.
Decrease the setting to made the images more green, and increase the setting to make the images
more purple.

Configuring the Camera
Basler IP Camera 15
3.4 Streaming Parameters
TheparametersintheStreaming groupareused to control thecharacteristics of theimage area that
will be captured by the camera’s sensor. They are also used to control the characteristics of the
video streams that are output from the camera.
The camera can produce up to three individually configured video streams. The streams are
designated as stream 0, stream 1, and stream 2. Stream 0 is always enabled. Streams 1 and 2 can
be either enabled or disabled. Each stream can be accessed by multiple network users.
For more information about video streams, see Section 3.1 on page 7.
When you open the Streaming parameters group, the camera enters the
"configuration"mode.In configuration mode, thestreamingof live imagesfromthe
camera is temporarily stopped. Streaming will remain stopped until you close the
Streaming parameters group. When you close the Streaming parameters group,
the camera will return to "normal" mode and image capture and streaming will
resume.
When the Streaming parameters group is open, the images displayed on any Live
Stream tabs in the web client will be refreshed approximately once every second,
but these images will not be streamed out of the camera.
If you close the web browser with the Streaming parameters group open,
streaming will remain stopped! To restart the image streams from the camera,
you must restartthe web browser, open the Streaming parametersgroup, andthen
close the Streaming parameters group. When you close the group, streaming will
restart.

Configuring the Camera
16 Basler IP Camera
3.4.1 Global Tab
The parameters on the Global tab control the way that the camera’s imaging sensor will capture
images. Because the images captured by the sensor are used for all three video streams, the
parameters on this tab are considered to be "global", i.e., changes made here will affect what you
can do when you work with the individual stream parameters.
Some of the parameters in this group are used to set the imaging sensor’s "area of interest" (AOI).
The sensor AOI settings let you define the area on the sensor that will actually be used when the
camera is capturing images. You can set the AOI settings so that the full sensor is used to capture
images or so that just a portion of the sensor is used as shown in Figure 3.
The sensor AOIWidth and sensor AOI Height parameters define the width and height (in pixels) of
the image area that will be captured. The sensor AOITop and sensor AOILeft parameters define
where the image area will be located in relation to the top left corner of the sensor.
Why Decrease the Sensor AOI Size?
On some camera models, typically those with large imaging sensors, the maximum rate at which
the sensor can capture images (i.e., the frame rate) is limited. On these cameras, when you
decrease the height of the sensor AOI, the rate at which the sensor can capture images will
increase. So if you need to capture images at a higher rate, decreasing the size of the sensor AOI
may be a workable option that will allow you to do so.
AOIHeight
AOIWidth
Sensor AOI
(image area captured)
AOITop
AOILeft
Imaging Sensor
Fig. 3: Sensor AOI