Data Translation DT3162 User manual

DT3162
UM-19131-C
User’s Manual

Third Edition
June,2002
Data Translation, Inc.
100 Locke Drive
Marlboro, MA 01752-1192
[phone]
www.datatranslation.com
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Copyright © 2002 by Data Translation, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form by any means,
electronic, mechanical, by photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of Data Translation, Inc.
Information furnished by Data Translation, Inc.
is believed to be accurate and reliable; however,
no responsibility is assumedby Data Translation,
Inc. for its use; nor for any infringements of
patents or other rights of third parties which
may result from its use. No license is granted by
implication or otherwise under any patent rights
of Data Translation, Inc.
Use, duplication, or disclosure by the United
States Government is subject to restrictions as set
forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in
Technical Data and Computer software clause at
48 C.F.R, 252.227-7013, or in subparagraph (c)(2)
of the Commercial computer Software -
Registered Rights clause at 48 C.F.R., 52-227-19 as
applicable. Data Translation, Inc., 100 Locke
Drive, Marlboro, MA 01752.
Data Translationand GLOBAL LABare
registered trademarks, Imaging OMNI CD,
and DT Vision Foundryare trademarks of Data
Translation, Inc.
All other brand and product names are
trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective companies.

Radio and Television Interference
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with CISPR
EN55022 Class A and EN50082-1 (CE) requirements and also with the
limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC
Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection
against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a
commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can
radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in
accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful
interference to radio communications. Operation of this equipment in
a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference, in which case
the user will be required to correct the interference at his own
expense.
Changes or modifications to this equipment not expressly approved
by Data Translation could void your authority to operate the
equipment under Part 15 of the FCC Rules.
Note: This product was FCC-Certified under test conditions that
included use of shielded cables and connectors between system
components. It is important that you use shielded cables and
connectors to reduce the possibility of causing interference to radio,
television, and other electronic devices.
Canadian Department of Communications Statement
This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class A limits for radio
noise emissions from digital apparatus set out in the Radio
Interference Regulations of the Canadian Department of
Communications.
Le présent appareil numérique n’émet pas de bruits radioélectriques
dépassant les limites applicables aux appareils numériques de la class
A prescrites dans le Règlement sur le brouillage radioélectrique
édicté par le Ministère des Communications du Canada.

v
Table of Contents
About this Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Intended Audience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
What You Should Learn from this Manual. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Conventions Used in this Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Related Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Where to Get Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
Principles of Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Video Input Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Video Signal Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Video Input Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Brightness and Contrast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Pixel Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Internal Pixel Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
External Pixel Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Triggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Look-Up Tables (LUTs). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Sync Signals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Sync Input Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Composite Video Signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Variable-Scan Video Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Sync Output Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Image Acquisition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Fields and Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Acquisition Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Data Transfer and Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Overlays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Contents
vi
Video Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Active Video Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Horizontal Video Signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Vertical Video Signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Region of Interest (ROI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Expose/Reset Signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Strobe Output Signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Digital I/O Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Appendix A: Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Appendix B: Connector Pin Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
J1 Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
J2 Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Camera Interface Module Connectors and Screw Terminals. . . 40
STP15 Connectors and Screw Terminals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Appendix C: RS-170 and CCIR Specifications and the
DT3162 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
RS-170 Specification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
RS-170 Vertical Signals and the DT3162. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
RS-170 Horizontal Signals and the DT3162. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
CCIR Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
CCIR Vertical Signals and the DT3162. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
CCIR Horizontal Signals and the DT3162. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Appendix D: Values for Use with the DT-Active Monochrome
Frame Grabber Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

vii
About this Manual
This manual describes the features of the DT3162 frame grabber
board and provides technical reference information.
Intended Audience
This document is intended for engineers, scientists, technicians, or
others responsible for programming and/or using the DT3162 board
to perform machine vision and/or image analysis operations. It is
assumed that you have some familiarity with imaging principles and
that you are familiar with the operating characteristics of your video
source.
What You Should Learn from this Manual
This manual provides detailed information about the features of the
DT3162 board. It is organized as follows:
•“Principles of Operation,”describes all of the supported features
of the board.
•Appendix A, “Specifications,”lists the specifications of the board
and the Camera Interface Module.
•Appendix B, “Connector Pin Assignments,”describes the pin
assignments for the connectors on the DT3162 board and on the
Camera Interface Module and STP15 screw terminal panel.
•Appendix C, “RS-170 and CCIR Specifications and the DT3162,”
describes the differences between the RS-170 and CCIR
specifications and the DT3162 board.

About this Manual
viii
•Appendix D, “Values for Use with the DT-Active Monochrome
Frame Grabber Control,”lists the supported values for the
DT3162 and the DT-Active Monochrome Frame Grabber Control.
•An index complete this manual.
Conventions Used in this Manual
The following conventions are used in this manual:
•Notes provide useful information that requires special emphasis,
cautions provide information to help you avoid losing data or
damaging your equipment, and warnings provide information to
help you avoid catastrophic damage to yourself or your
equipment.
•Items that you select or type are shown inbold.
•Courier font is used to represent source code.
Related Information
Refer to the following documents for more information on using the
DT3162 board:
•DT3162 Getting Started Manual(UM-19133). This manual
(GS3162.PDF), included on the Imaging OMNI CD, describes
how to set up, install, and wire signals to the DT3162 board, how
to configure the DT3162 Device Driver, how to verify the
operation of the board, and how to troubleshoot issues with the
DT3162 board should they occur.
•DT-Active Frame Grabber Controls Getting Started Manual
(UM-19336). This manual (DTFG.PDF), included on the Imaging
OMNI CD, describes how to install the DT-Active Frame Grabber
Controls in Visual Basic and Visual C++, and describes the
properties, methods, and events included in the controls.

About this Manual
ix
•GLOBAL LAB Image/2 User’s Manual (UM-17790),available from
Data Translation, describes how to use GLOBAL LAB®Image/2
and GLOBAL LAB Image/2 Streamlineto create scientific
applications using object-oriented image processing tools.
•DT Vision Foundry User’s Manual (UM-17755),available from Data
Translation, describes how to use DT Vision Foundryto create
machine vision applications using object-oriented image
processing tools.
Additionally, it may be helpful to read other material in order to gain
a better understanding of image processing concepts, algorithms, and
their applications. Data Translation's Technical Support Department
recommends the following resources for understanding image
processing concepts, processing, and coding:
Baxes, Gregory A. Digital Image Processing, Principles &
Applications. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1994.
Introduction to image processing and hardware/software
basics.
Benson, K. Blair, and Donald G. Fink. HDTV Advanced TV for the
1990's. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990. Details high-definition
television concepts.
Castleman, K. R. Digital Image Processing. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall, 1987. Explains major image processing
concepts and mathematical concepts involved in digital
image manipulation.
Gonzalez, Rafael C., and Paul Wintz. Digital Image Processing.
Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley, 1987. Explains major
image processing concepts and mathematical concepts
involved in digital image manipulation, including FFT
processing, filtering operations, geometric functions,
histograms, and linear equalization.

About this Manual
x
Lindley, Craig. Practical Image Processing in C. Somerset, NJ: John
Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1991. Explains basic image processing
techniques using C, provides many programming examples,
covers TIFF and PICT file formats, and describes how to map
images into VGA memory space.
Luther, Arch C. Digital Video in the PC Environment. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1991. Explains Digital Video Interactive (DVI)
technology.
Pratt, William K. Digital Image Processing. Somerset, NJ: John
Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1991. Detailed text on image processing,
including morphological processing, feature extraction,
image segmentation, and shape analysis.
Rosenfeld, Azriel, and Avinash C. Kak. Digital Picture Processing.
New York: Academic Press, Inc., 1990. Describes image
processing techniques and concepts.
Russ, John C. Computer-Assisted Microscopy, The Measurement
and Analysis of Images. New York: Plenum Press.
Watkinson, John. The Art of Digital Video. Stoneham, MA: Focal
Press, 1990. Provides an in-depth description of digital video
fundamentals.
Where to Get Help
Should you run into problems installing or using the DT3162 board,
the Data Translation Technical Support Department is available to
provide technical assistance. Refer to the DT3162 Getting Started
Manual for more information. If you are outside the U.S. or Canada,
call your local distributor, whose number is listed in your Data
Translation product handbook, or contact the DataTranslation web
site (www.datatranslation.com).

1
Principles of Operation
Video Input Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Sync Signals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Image Acquisition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Video Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Expose/Reset Signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Strobe Output Signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Digital I/O Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

2
This chapter describes the features of the DT3162 board from a
functional point of view. To aid the discussions in this chapter, refer to
the block diagram of the DT3162, shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: DT3162 Block Diagram
3 to 1
Video
Multiplexer
VID 0
PCI Bus
Analog
Front-End
LUT
Timing and
Control
FIFO
PCI Interface
Config
Flash
Digital Output
Lines 0 to 3
External Pixel
Clock
External
Sync
External HSYNC
External VSYNC
Trigger Input
Strobe Pulse
Expose/
Reset Pulse
Digital Input
Lines 0 to 3
Local Bus
Digital I/O
Control
VID 2
VID 1

Principles of Operation
3
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Video Input Signals
This section describes the following aspects of the supported input
signals:
•Video signal types,
•Video input sources,
•Brightness and contrast settings,
•Pixel clock,
•Triggers, and
•Look-up tables (LUTs).
Video Signal Types
The DT3162 can acquire monochrome images from following types of
standard, monochrome, composite video input signals:
•RS-170/RS-343 −Standard for 60 Hz monochrome video signals.
A video frame consists of 525 lines, 480 lines of which are visible.
•CCIR −Standard for 50 Hz monochrome video signals. A video
frame consists of 625 lines, 575 lines of which are visible.
Note: Refer to Appendix C for more information on the differences
between the RS-170 and CCIR specifications and the values defined
by the DT3162 board.
In addition, the DT3162 can acquire monochrome images from
nonstandard sources, such as variable-scan, slow-scan,
asynchronous/reset, and high-resolution cameras. These
nonstandard video sources must provide their own control signals.

Video Input Signals
4
Video Input Sources
The DT3162 accepts one of three AC-coupled monochrome video
input sources. You specify the video source (VideoSource0,
VideoSource1, or VideoSource2) through software.
Pin C1 of connector J1 on the DT3162 is provided for video source 0.
Pin C2 of connector J1 on the DT3162 is provided for video source 1.
Pin C3 of connector J1 on the DT3162 is provided for video source 2.
You can access these signals using either the EP332 cable or the
Camera Interface Module.
Brightness and Contrast
The DT3162 provides programmable brightness and contrast settings.
Brightness allows you to move the entire grayscale range of the
image up or down to make the image lighter or darker. Contrast
affects the amplitude of the input signal and allows you to emphasize
or de-emphasize the difference between light and dark values.
Values for brightness range from 0 to 255, in increments of 1. Values
for contrast range from 0 to 99, in increments of 1.
You can use software to automatically adjust the image settings for
the board’s current environment by selecting recalibration.
Recalibration is useful if the board has experienced temperature
changes or the degradation of components over time, or if you want
to calibrate the image settings of all DT3162 boards used in the same
environment.
If you wish, you can also use software to restore the image settings to
their factory-default calibration values.

Principles of Operation
5
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Pixel Clock
The DT3162 provides an internal pixel clock or can accept an external
pixel clock. You select the pixel clock source using software.
The pixel clock locks and synchronizes to the horizontal sync input
signal. Synchronization occurs on the falling edge of the horizontal
sync signal. Once locked and synchronized, the pixel clock generates
the acquisition timing for the board.
The following sections describe the pixel clock sources in more detail.
Internal Pixel Clock
If you select the board’s internal pixel clock, the total pixels per line
(which includes the active and blank pixels) multiplied by the
horizontal frequency determines the frequency of the pixel clock. The
frequency of the internal pixel clock determines the video input
signal digitization rate.
External Pixel Clock
Connector J1 on the DT3162 board accepts two types of external pixel
clock sources:
•Single-ended (TTL) Pixel Clock Input Source −This clock
source is accessible on pin C4 of connector J1 on the DT3162. You
can access this signal using the EP332 cable.
Specify ExternalSource1 in software to select this pixel clock
source.
•Differential (LVDS) Pixel Clock Input Source −This clock
source is accessible on pin 9 (Pixel Clock −) and pin 10 (Pixel
Clock +) of connector J1 on the DT3162. The Camera Interface
Module allows you to attach a TTL-level pixel clock signal
through the CAMERA connector, which is then converted to a
differential LVDS pixel clock input that the DT3162 board uses.

Video Input Signals
6
However, if you need to provide a differential pixel clock directly
to the board, you need to build you own cable.
Specify ExternalSource2 in software to select this pixel clock
source.
The frequency of the external pixel clock can range between 100 kHz
and 40 MHz, determined by the signal that you attach. This signal is
rising-edge sensitive.
Triggers
The DT3162 board supports both a software trigger and an external
trigger input. The external trigger input is provided through pin 6 of
connector J1 on the DT3162. You can access this signal using either
EP332 cable or the Camera Interface Module.
If you specify an internal trigger (Internal) using software, the
acquisition occurs when you execute an acquisition command.
If you specify an external trigger using software, the acquisition is
synchronized with an external event. Through software, you can
specify whether you want to acquire an image when a low-to-high
(OnLowToHigh) transition occurs or when a high-to-low
(OnHighToLow) transition occurs. You can also specify whether to
use a single external trigger (ExternalToStart) to start the acquisition
of a series of frames or fields, or whether to use a separate trigger
(ExternalForEach) to acquire each frame or field in a series of frames
or fields. Refer to page 13 for more information on frames and fields.
Note: If you plan to use the expose/reset and/or strobe output
signals, you must specify either an Internal trigger (for use when
acquiring one frame only) or an ExternalForEach trigger (for use
when acquiring one or more frames).

Principles of Operation
7
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Look-Up Tables (LUTs)
The DT3162 board provides two LUTs that you can use to change the
value of an incoming pixel or affect the displayed image (also called
palette matching). When the LUT gets an input pixel value, the
DT3162 board retrieves the outputvalue for that particular pixel from
the LUT and passes the output value to the region of interest (see
page 22 for more information). Since the board has a 10-bit ADC, each
LUT has1024 locations. However, since the board processes the 10-bit
data into 8-bit data, you can enter only pixel values of 0 to 255 in each
location.
You specify the relationship between the pixel input value and the
LUT output value by loading the LUT with different processing
setups. For example, you can pass an image unaltered (the default
setting for LUT 0, known as identity), or you can perform pixel point
operations, such as image multiplication and division, intensity
correction, and reverse-video (the default setting for LUT 1), before
passing the image on.
As an example, assume that the LUT is loaded with the identity
pattern. Pixel input values 0 to 3 have an output value of 0 (black).
Pixel input values 4 to 7 have an output value of 1, and so on, up to
pixel input values 1020 to 1023, which have an output value of 255
(white).
As another example, if you load the LUT with an inverse or negative
pattern, pixel input values 0 to 3 have an output value of 255, pixel
input values 4 to 7 have an output value of 254, and so on, up to pixel
input values 1020 to 1023, which have an output value of 0.
As a final example, assume that you are only interested in looking at
pixels whose input values to the LUT range from 600 to 855. You
could load an output value of 0 for pixel input value 600, an output
value of 1 for pixel input value 601, and so on, up to 255 for pixel
input value 855. The rest of the LUT locations could then be loaded
with either 0 (black) or 255 (white).

Video Input Signals
8
Using software, you can select the LUT to use, and load an ASCII file
or array that specifies the relationship between the pixel input values
and the output values for the selected LUT.

Principles of Operation
9
S
S
S
S
S
S
Sync Signals
This section describes the following aspects of the sync signals:
•Sync input sources, and
•Sync output mode.
Sync Input Sources
To digitize the incoming video signal, the DT3162 board requires both
a horizontal and a vertical sync input signal.
The way in which the board determines the sync information
depends on whether composite or variable-scan video signals are
connected to the board. Refer to the following subsections for more
information.
Composite Video Signal
If you use a composite video source, the sync signals are stripped
from the selected video source and fed into the sync circuitry. Specify
the sync input source as InternalSync using software.
Note: You set the horizontal sync input frequency by specifying the
line frequency, described on page 17. The vertical sync input
frequency is the line frequency divided by the number of lines per
frame.
If you enable sync output mode, specify the sync input source as
internal, since the syncs coming back to the board are stripped from
the video source.

Sync Signals
10
Variable-Scan Video Signals
If you want to use variable-scan video signals, the camera or
imaging/device must provide the horizontal and vertical sync
signals. Pin 1 of connector J1 on the DT3162 accepts a vertical sync
signal; pin 2 of connector J1 on the DT3162 accepts a horizontal sync
signal. Both the EP332 cable and the CAMERA connector on the
Camera Interface Module accept horizontal and vertical sync input
signals.
Note: Pins 1 and 2 of connector J1 on the DT3162 accept sync input
signals only if sync output mode, described in the following section,
is disabled.
If you are using a variable-scan video signal, specify the sync input
source as ExternalSync using software. You can also specify the
polarity of the horizontal and vertical sync signals (ActiveHigh or
ActiveLow). Selecting an active-high polarity means that the sync
input pulse is a low-to-high going signal; selecting an active-low
polarity means that the sync input pulse is a high-to-low going
signal.