e-con Systems e-CAMView ACC-CX3RDK-5680 User manual

ACC-CX3RDK-5680 Application User Manual 17-June-2014
www.e-consystems.com |Subject to change without notice Page 1 of 18
e-con Systems India Pvt Ltd
RISHABH INFO PARK,
RR Tower – IV, 7th Floor,
Super A-16 & A-17, Thiru-Vi-Ka Industrial Estate,
Guindy, Chennai - 600 032.
www.e-consystems.com
ACC-CX3RDK-5680
e-CAMView Application User Manual
Revision 1.1
17-June-2014

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Contents
1 Revision History........................................................................................................................................3
2 Introduction................................................................................................................................................ 4
3 Scope..........................................................................................................................................................4
4 Description................................................................................................................................................. 4
5 Pre-Requisites.......................................................................................................................................... 4
5.1 Installation of the ACC-CX3RDK-5680 and Drivers.................................................................... 4
6 Using e-CAMView.................................................................................................................................... 5
6.1 Devices Menu..................................................................................................................................... 6
6.2 Options Menu..................................................................................................................................... 7
6.2.1 Video Capture Filter.................................................................................................................8
6.2.2 Video Capture Pin.................................................................................................................... 9
6.2.3 Still Capture Pin..................................................................................................................... 10
6.2.4 Bayer Filter Property page................................................................................................... 11
6.3 Capture Menu...................................................................................................................................16
6.4 Help Menu......................................................................................................................................... 17
7 Opening a RAW image......................................................................................................................... 17
7.1 Installing Irfanview........................................................................................................................... 17
7.2 Selecting image properties............................................................................................................ 17
8 Conclusion............................................................................................................................................... 18

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ACC-CX3RDK-5680
1 Revision History
Rev No Date Major Changes Author
1.0 26-May-2014 Initial Draft Camera PRD
Team
1.1 17-June-2014 Added Changes Shanthakumar

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2 Introduction
ACC-CX3RDK-5680 Board is a camera daughter board has been designed and developed by
e-con Systems. The ACC-CX3RDK-5680 Board uses e-CAM58_MI5680_MOD camera module
based on OV5680 CMOS sensor from Omnivision. The e-CAM58_MI5680_MOD is a small form-
factor, 5 Megapixel RAW RGB (also known as Bayer format RGB) Autofocus camera module
from e-con Systems with MIPI CSI-2 interface. This camera daughter board can be directly
interfaced to the Denebola - CX3 RDK from e-con Systems.
3 Scope
e-con provides a sample DirectShow application, called e-CAMView, along with the ACC-
CX3RDK-5680 camera. The e-CAMView is a typical DirectShow camera application, but
customized to demonstrate some of the features of ACC-CX3RDK-5680. This document
describes these special features of this sample camera application when it is used with ACC-
CX3RDK-5680.
4 Description
The ACC-CX3RDK-5680 is a USB 3.0 camera capable of streaming camera frames 1280x 720
@ 60 fps, 1920x1080 @ 30 fps, 2592x1944 @ 30fps and 640x480 @ 120fps. It currently
supports RAW Bayer output (BY8) in all the resolutions only in USB 3.0.
Bayer image format is one of the most commonly supported RAW image format by digital
cameras. Unlike MJPEG or YUV, Bayer image cannot be viewed directly by any viewer or cannot
be rendered using default DirectShow video renderers. Hence, e-con Systems designed a
DirectShow transform filter that supports streaming of 8-bit Bayer camera through USB interface.
To know more about the See3CAM Bayer Filter please check out the Bayer Filter Property Page
section.
This document explains the following things.
•
Selecting
the
supported
preview
resolutions.
•
Selecting
the
still
image
resolution.
•
Capturing
still
images.
5 Pre-Requisites
This section describes the high level instructions to install the ACC-CX3RDK-5680 on a PC.
Please refer the Getting Started manual for more detailed installation steps and pictures of the
same.
5.1 Installation of the ACC-CX3RDK-5680 and Drivers
Follow the following steps to initialize the device with the host computer
•
Connect
the
one
end
of
the
USB
3.0
cable
to
the
USB
3.0
connector
provided
at
the
back
of ACC-CX3RDK-5680, and connect the other end to the USB 3.0 host controller on the
computer.
•
Once
connected
the
LED
light
on
the
device
will
glow
indicating
that
ACC-CX3RDK-5680
is powered up and ready to use.
•
As
ACC-CX3RDK-5680
is
a
generic
USB
Video
Class
device
windows
will
automatically
detect all the drivers and it will be installed. This happens for the first time and from the
second time device will be detected immediately by the host PC and will be ready for use.
•
••
•
To
see
the
preview
the
e-CAMView
application
designed
for
ACC-CX3RDK-5680
has
to
be installed. The installation steps are given in the section 5. Installation of e-CAMView
of the e-CAMView Installation Manual document.

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6 Using e-CAMView
To launch the video streaming and capture application e-CAMView click on the
Start -> All Programs -> e-con Systems -> e-CAMView.
This version of e-CAMView comes with a set of features that can be used to attain the full
functionality of ACC-CX3RDK-5680. The Menu bar at the top contains few menu items and the
lower status bar shows some information. When the application is running, the current preview
resolution and the frame rate are displayed in the lower status bar. The following sections
describe each of the menu items in detail.
Figure 1: Application launch appearance
By default the e-CAM View will be configured to display the camera frames as “GRBG” pattern.
But the camera frames which are received from the sensor will be in “BGGR” pattern. So the
Bayer pattern should be changed.
To change the Bayer pattern, Select the “Options” menu -> “Bayer Property page”, In that click
the radio button near the text “BG”.

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6.1 Devices Menu
Devices menu will show the currently connected video devices to host PC and the user can select
any video devices attached to the computer. A check mark is placed before the device indicating
the video device which is currently streaming. By default ACC-CX3RDK-5680 device will be
indicated by the name e-con’s CX3 RDK with OV5680. In case any other video device is
connected such as on-board webcam etc., the e-CAMView shall list down those video capture
devices as well and the user can switch between the available video capture devices, by
selecting the respective device.
There is no audio capture source available with the ACC-CX3RDK-5680. The following menu
shows only our camera being listed in the Devices menu.
Figure 2: Enumerated Devices list

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6.2 Options Menu
The options menu can be used to select the various preview and image resolutions and the
controls that are supported by ACC-CX3RDK-5680. When clicked the options menu will appear
as shown in the snapshot below.
Figure 3: Options Menu
From this Options menu the following options can be selected
•
Video
Capture
Pin
–
to
select
various
video
preview
resolutions
supported
by
the
device.
•
Still
Capture
Pin
–
to
select
various
still
image
resolutions
supported
by
the
device.
•
Bayer
Property
Page
–
to
access
various
Bayer
properties
supported
by
the
device.
The details of each of these options are described below:

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6.2.1 Video Capture Filter
The Video Capture Filter submenu of the Options Menu can be used to configure some of the
camera parameters of ACC-CX3RDK-5680. Currently the ACC-CX3RDK-5680 supports manual
focus. The user can choose the values of these controls of the ACC-CX3RDK-5680.
The various controls that are supported by v are
•
Focus
(Manual)
The Default button in the tab is used to select the default inbuilt values of all the controls for the
ACC-CX3RDK-5680.
Figure 4: Camera Control
6.2.1.1 Focus Control – Manual
The ACC-CX3RDK-5680 supports manual focus control which can be controlled using the
Camera Control tab of the Video Capture Filter submenu. The Manual focus can be selected by
uncheck the check box near the focus control. The Manual Focus values can be changed from a
minimum value of 0 to 1023 by moving the slider, and the exact changes will be reflected
immediately in the preview. This Manual Focus control changes the focus lens position of ACC-
CX3RDK-5680. The Default value is 0.
Note: Controls other than manual focus are not supported and hence cannot be used.

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6.2.2 Video Capture Pin
The Video Capture Pin submenu of the Options Menu is used to select the various supported
resolutions by ACC-CX3RDK-5680.
To change the resolution the user can select any one of the resolutions from the Output Size
list box.
The frame rate supported by the current resolution will appear in the Frame Rate text box.
Currently the Bayer Color version of ACC-CX3RDK-5680 supports BY8 (Bayer Y8) format in the
following resolutions;
•
5MP(2592x1944)
at
30
fps
in
USB
3.0(Because
of
Bayer
conversion
done
on
PC
for
live preview we will not be able to see at 30fps.)
•
1920
x
1080
at
30
fps
in
USB
3.0.
•
1280
x
720
at
60
fps
in
USB
3.0.
•
640
x
480
at
120
fps
in
USB
3.0.
Note1: While changing the preview resolution, the preview will be stopped and resume once
again when the resolution is selected and the OK button is pressed.
Figure 5: Video Capture Pin

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6.2.3 Still Capture Pin
The Still Capture Pin submenu of the Options Menu is used to select the various resolutions
supported by ACC-CX3RDK-5680 for taking still images. One of the important features of
ACC-CX3RDK-5680 is that a still image of any resolution can be taken from any preview
resolution. The e-CAMView application will save the images in Raw (.raw) format in the user
specified location.
To change the resolution the user can select any one of the resolutions from the Output Size
list box.
Currently the Bayer Color version of ACC-CX3RDK-5680 supports BY8 (Bayer Y8) format in the
following resolutions;
•
5MP(2592x1944)
Note1: While changing the still image resolution, the preview will be stopped and resume once
again when the resolution is selected and the OK button is pressed.
Figure 6: Still capture pin

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6.2.4 Bayer Filter Property page
Bayer image format is one of the most commonly supported RAW image format by digital
cameras. Unlike MJPEG or YUV, Bayer image cannot be viewed directly by any viewer or cannot
be rendered using default DirectShow video renderers. Hence, e-con Systems designed a
DirectShow transform filter that supports streaming of 8-bit Bayer camera through USB interface.
The Bayer Filter property page can be used to select the mode of reconstruction of Bayer format
video and also apply features like color correction, gamma correction, black level compensation
and contrast.
Below block diagram shows how and where See3CAM Bayer Transform filter is placed in the
DirectShow rendering pipeline. ACC-CX3RDK-5680 camera provides continuous streaming of
Bayer images through USB interface, which is then reconstructed and post processed for viewing.
Figure 7: e-CAMView Processing pipeline
Figure 9 shows the internal operation and features provided by See3CAM Bayer Transform
filter.
Figure 8: Bayer Transform Filter Internal Flow

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Figure 9: Bayer Filter Property Page
The user can control the following features through a software signal processing algorithm, which
is controlled by the Bayer Filter Property Page;
•
Bayer
Pattern
Selection
•
Bayer
Interpolation
Method
•
Gamma
correction
•
Contrast
•
Black
level
compensation
•
Color
correction
matrix
control
6.2.4.1 Bayer Pattern Selection
According to the Bayer pattern selected the image frames will be decoded & displayed. There are
four types of Bayer patterns can be selected in the application. They are as follows,
1. GRBG
2. RGGB
3. BGGR
4. GBRG
The OV5680 sensor will always give the camera frames in BGGR format only. So the “BG”
Radio button should be selected for the proper preview.

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6.2.4.2 Bayer Interpolation Method
Basic operation performed by the See3CAM Direct Show Bayer transform filter is demosaicing of
Bayer image received from USB camera. Demosaicing is the process of reconstructing a green
component dominated Bayer image to an equal weighted viewable RGB image. Figure 1
represents the arrangement of pixels information in Bayer image and output of demosaicing
algorithm.
Figure 10: Demosaicing process
There are various interpolation algorithms that favor speed or favor quality. Based on the
requirement, Bayer Transform filter provides option to choose from the following 3 interpolation
algorithm.
1. Nearest Neighbor – Fast but poor quality.
2.
Bilinear
Interpolation
–
Better
quality
than
Nearest
Neighbor.
3.
Advanced
Homogeneity
Directed
–
Good
quality
but
very
slow.
The ACC-CX3RDK-5680 Bayer Color camera will use Nearest Neighbor method by default, but
the user can switch to other methods also.
When using the Advanced Homogeneity Directed method, the frame rate will drop depending on
the computer configuration. This is because of the processing overhead of this method.

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When using the Bilinear Interpolation method if the frame rate drops below 60 fps in 1280x720 or
below 45 fps in 1280 x 960, then the system performance may not be sufficient to do the
reconstruction process by this method. The user can verify this by checking the Enable Debug
Print checkbox, and see the conversion time through debug messages by using DebugView
application.
Note: To get 1280x720 @ 60FPS it is recommended to use Nearest Neighbor method of Bayer
interpolation.
6.2.4.3 Gamma Correction
The term gamma refers to the relationship between digital pixel values to the actual luminance of
the scene. This operation is very simple; it has a look-up table that is generated based on the
gamma (γ) value. Every value of the pixel in the image will be used as index of look-up table and
the corresponding content of index value will be replaced to the corresponding pixel.
Table 1 Gamma Value mapping
Γ= 1.0 Default gamma
Γ> 1.0 Low gamma image
Γ< 1.0 High gamma image.
Above graph and Table 1 shows the relation between input pixel value and the gamma corrected
output pixel value. Based on the scenario and requirement, gamma should be kept high or low.
6.2.4.4 Contrast
Contrast is the quality of image that shows the difference between black and white colors of the
image. Contrast adjustment is the process of altering the ratio of brightest color (White) to darkest
color (Black). Through the slider provided in the property page, user can control the contrast
being applied to image.
The Contrast by default is disabled in the application; the user can enable this by checking the
Contrast checkbox and then selecting the required value using the respective slider.

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6.2.4.5 Black level compensation
For certain scenarios, there may be requirement to increase the black level value of the pixels for
entire image. In that case, users are allowed to use Black Level compensation option which
performs arithmetic operation (as per below equation) to every individual pixel of the image to
either increase or decrease the value of pixel.
Pixel_out = Pixel_in + blc_value
The Black level compensation by default is disabled in the application; the user can enable this by
checking the Black level compensation checkbox and then selecting the required value using the
respective slider.
6.2.4.6 Color correction matrix control
Bayer interpolation is done based on adaptive technique which calculates the missing pixel value
from the neighboring pixels. Due to this operation, the original color of the image may not be
reproduced. Hence their needs special post processing operation called color correction, which
multiplies each pixel with certain scaling factor to increase the gain of particular pixel value.
The Color correction matrix control can be used to manually correct the colors as suitable to the
viewing area of the camera. To enable this user first has to click the Color Correction check box.
Enter the values for the matrix and click on Apply CC to apply the color correction.
Above equation states that, output of Bayer interpolated RGB pixels (Rin, Gin, Bin) are multiplied
by a scaling factors (3x3 matrix) to produce final (Rout, Gout, Bout) original color of the scene.
This operation is time consuming process, since each pixel of the image is modified with a scaling
3x3 matrix. User are allowed to modify this scaling matrix through property page (refer Figure.3).
Note: Applying color correction can decrease the frame rate of the preview; this is due to the
processing overhead.

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6.3 Capture Menu
The Capture Menu is used to capture the image by using the e-CAMView application. It can also
be used to select the Still image capture path where the images will be saved. By default the
e-CAMView will set the Desktop as the image storage path for easy access, but the user can
change to any location by using the still path option.
To take an image the user can either click the Get Still option of press the Enter key of the
keyboard. The image will be captured and stored in the location specified by the user.
Figure 11: Capture menu

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6.4 Help Menu
The Help Menu can be used to obtain the current version information of e-CAMView application
installed in the computer.
Figure 12: Help menu
7 Opening a RAW image
The ACC-CX3RDK-5680 Bayer color camera stores the images in a RAW (.raw) format. To view
these images the user can use the following steps;
7.1 Installing Irfanview
To open the RAW format image, the user can use any raw image viewer application. The
following section describes the method of viewing RAW images using a third party application
“Irfanview”.
The application can be downloaded from http://www.irfanview.com/main_download_engl.htm and
the user should install it to proceed to the next step.
7.2 Selecting image properties
Once the application is installed the user can open the image by double clicking it. Irfanview will
show a property page indicating the properties to be selected. In this the following fields need to
be changed according to the image.

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1.
Image
width
–
This
is
to
be
set
at
2592
for
ACC-CX3RDK-5680.
2.
Image
height
–
This
is
to
be
set
either
at
1944
according
to
the
image.
3.
Bits
Per
Pixel
(BPP)
–
Select
8
BPP.
4.
Bayer
pattern
used
–
Select
the
checkbox
and
select
GR
pattern.
5.
Check
on
don
’
t
show
this
dialog
again
if
multiple
images
of
same
resolution
are
to
be
viewed.
6.
Once
selected,
click
OK
to
view
the
image.
Figure 13: Irfanview properties
8 Conclusion
This document provides the basic steps involved in using the e-CAMView application and ACC-
CX3RDK-5680 in the appropriate modes. For additional information on the usage of ACC-
CX3RDK-5680 refer the specific documents provided.