Imperx Cheetah Series User manual

IMPERX
Cheetah Python CMOS Cameras
User Manual
with Camera LinkInterface
The Imperx Cheetah C5180, C4181, and C4180 CMOS cameras provide exceptional
video image quality in a ruggedized design. The cameras use 25-, 16-, and 12-megapixel
ON Semiconductor Python image sensors to produce exceptional quality image with
low noise and efficient, optimized internal thermal distribution.
Revision 2.4

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About Imperx, Inc.
IMPERX, Inc. is a leading designer and manufacturer of high performance, high quality digital
cameras, frame grabbers, and accessories for industrial, commercial, military, and aerospace
imaging applications including flat panel inspection, biometrics, aerial mapping, surveillance,
traffic management, semiconductors and electronics, scientific & medical Imaging, printing,
homeland security, space exploration, and other imaging and machine vision applications.
Fortune 100 companies, federal and state government agencies, domestic and foreign
defense agencies, academic institutions, and other customers worldwide use IMPERX
products.
Imperx, Inc. | 6421 Congress Ave. | Boca Raton, FL, 33487
US Phone: [phone]

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Warranty
IMPERX warrants performance of its products and related software to the specifications
applicable at the time of sale in accordance with IMPERX’s standard warranty, which is 2
(two) years parts and labor. FOR GLASSLESS CAMERAS THE CCD OR CMOS IS NOT COVERED
BY THE WARRANTY.
Do not open the housing of the camera. Warranty voids if the housing has been open or
tampered.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
This camera has been tested and complies with the limits of Class A digital device, pursuant
to part 15 of the FCC rules.
Copyright © 2016, 2018 IMPERX Inc. All rights reserved. All information provided in this
manual is believed to be accurate and reliable. No responsibility is assumed by IMPERX for
its use. IMPERX reserves the right to make changes to this information without notice.
Redistribution of this manual in whole or in part, by any means, is prohibited without
obtaining prior permission from IMPERX. IMPERX reserves the right to make changes to its
products or to discontinue any product or service without notice and advises its customers
to obtain the latest version of relevant information to verify, before placing orders, that the
information being relied on is current.
IMPERX PRODUCTS ARE NOT DESIGNED, INTENDED, AUTHORIZED, OR WARRANTED TO BE
SUITABLE FOR USE IN LIFE-SUPPORT APPLICATIONS, DEVICES OR SYSTEMS OR OTHER
CRITICAL APPLICATIONS, WHERE MALFUNCTION OF THESE PRODUCTS CAN REASONABLY BE
EXPECTED TO RESULT IN PERSONAL INJURY. IMPERX CUSTOMERS USING OR SELLING THESE
PRODUCTS FOR USE IN SUCH APPLICATIONS DO SO AT THEIR OWN RISK AND AGREE TO
FULLY INDEMNIFY IMPERX FOR ANY DAMAGES RESULTING FROM SUCH IMPROPER USE OR
SALE.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1About the Camera........................................................................... 9
1.1 General.....................................................................................................................9
1.1.1 Key Features .................................................................................................. 10
1.1.2 CoaXPress, GigE, 10GigE and USB3 interfaces...............................................11
1.2 Technical Specifications .........................................................................................12
1.2.1 CLF-C5180 and CLF-C4181 Cameras ..............................................................13
1.2.2 CLF-C4180 Camera.........................................................................................14
1.3 Ordering Information ............................................................................................. 15
1.4 Technical Support...................................................................................................15
2Hardware.......................................................................................16
2.1 Camera Back Panel.................................................................................................16
2.1.1 Power Supply.................................................................................................16
2.2 Camera Power Connector ......................................................................................19
2.2.1 Power Connector Pins ...................................................................................19
2.2.2 Electrical Connectivity ...................................................................................19
2.3 Camera Link Signal Mapping ..................................................................................21
2.3.1 Camera Link Physical Layer to Camera Link Receiver Bits .............................23
2.3.2 Camera Link Bit to Port Bit assignments........................................................23
2.3.3 Camera Link Port assignments based on selected output configuration ......26
2.4 Camera LED Status Indicators ................................................................................28
2.5 Mechanical, Optical, Environmental ......................................................................29
2.5.1 Mechanicals................................................................................................... 29
2.5.2 Optical ...........................................................................................................30
2.5.3 Environmental ............................................................................................... 30
3Camera Configuration....................................................................31
3.1 Overview ................................................................................................................31
3.2 Configuration.......................................................................................................... 31
3.2.1 Configuration Memory –parameter FLASH .................................................. 31
3.2.2 Camera Serial Protocol .................................................................................. 32
3.3 Camera Configuration Register Descriptions .........................................................35
3.3.1 Startup Procedure .........................................................................................35
3.3.2 Saving and Restoring Settings ....................................................................... 35
3.3.3 Retrieving Manufacturing Data .....................................................................36
3.3.4 Camera Information Registers.......................................................................37
3.3.5 AGC/AEC registers ......................................................................................... 40
3.3.6 Exposure Control ........................................................................................... 42
3.3.7 Exposure Time (Internal) ...............................................................................42
3.3.8 Programmable Frame Period Enable............................................................. 42
3.3.9 Output Pixel Clock Rate and Zero ROT ..........................................................43
3.3.10 Fixed Frame Period......................................................................................43
3.3.11 Area of Interest............................................................................................43
3.3.12 Processing AOI Control................................................................................44
3.3.13 Decimation (Averaging or Subsampling) ..................................................... 45
3.3.14 Black Level auto-calibration ........................................................................46
3.3.15 Black Level Offset ........................................................................................ 46
3.3.16 Analog and Digital Gain ...............................................................................46

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3.3.17 Triggering Workspace Registers .................................................................. 47
3.3.18 Strobe Control Registers.............................................................................. 49
3.3.19 Pulse Generator Registers ...........................................................................50
3.3.20 Test Pattern Workspace Registers...............................................................51
3.3.21 Input/output Workspace Registers ............................................................. 52
3.3.22 Data Output Format Registers.....................................................................52
3.3.23 White Balance (WB) Workspace Registers .................................................. 53
3.3.24 Data Correction Workspace Registers......................................................... 54
3.3.25 Flat Field Correction and FPN Correction .................................................... 55
4Software Configuration GUI ...........................................................56
4.1 Camera Configurator Overview..............................................................................56
4.2 Installing the GUI....................................................................................................56
4.3 Camera Discovery Procedure .................................................................................57
4.4 Graphical User Interface ........................................................................................ 58
4.5 Main GUI Menu...................................................................................................... 59
4.6 View GUI Windows.................................................................................................63
4.7 Menu Help..............................................................................................................64
4.8 Parameter Windows...............................................................................................65
4.8.1 Acquisition Control Panel .............................................................................. 65
4.8.2 Trigger Panel..................................................................................................69
4.8.3 Pulse Generator Panel ................................................................................... 70
4.8.4 Strobe Control and Output Mapping.............................................................71
4.8.5 AGC / AEC Control ......................................................................................... 72
4.8.6 Data Output Control......................................................................................73
4.8.7 Color Control .................................................................................................74
5Camera Features............................................................................76
5.1 Exposure Control....................................................................................................76
5.1.1 Internal Exposure Control - Electronic Shutter..............................................76
5.1.2 External Exposure Control.............................................................................76
5.2 Frame Time Control................................................................................................ 77
5.2.1 Internal Line and Frame Time Control...........................................................77
5.2.2 Zero-Row Overhead (ROT) Control................................................................77
5.2.3 Camera Output Control .................................................................................78
5.3 Area of Interest ......................................................................................................79
5.3.1 Overview........................................................................................................79
5.3.2 Horizontal and Vertical Window ................................................................... 79
5.3.3 Factors Impacting Frame Rate.......................................................................80
5.4 Subsampling ...........................................................................................................81
5.4.1 Pixel Averaging ..............................................................................................81
5.4.2 Subsampling Decimation ............................................................................... 81
5.5 Camera Triggering .................................................................................................. 83
5.5.1 Triggering Inputs............................................................................................83
5.5.2 Acquisition and Exposure Control .................................................................83
5.5.3 Triggering modes........................................................................................... 84
5.6 Strobes ...................................................................................................................85
5.7 Video Amplifier Gain and Offset ............................................................................85
5.7.1 Analog Gain ................................................................................................... 85
5.7.2 Digital Gain .................................................................................................... 85

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5.7.3 Digital Offset.................................................................................................. 86
5.7.4 Black Level Auto-calibration and Black Level Offset......................................86
5.8 Data Output Format...............................................................................................86
5.8.1 Bit Depth........................................................................................................ 86
5.8.2 Output Taps................................................................................................... 87
5.9 Pulse Generator ..................................................................................................... 87
5.10 Input / Output Control .........................................................................................88
5.10.1 Input / Output Mapping .............................................................................. 88
5.11 Test Image Patterns ............................................................................................. 88
5.11.1 Test Image patterns.....................................................................................88
5.12 White Balance and Color Conversion ....................................................................89
5.12.1 White Balance Correction............................................................................89
5.13 Transfer Function Correction LUT ........................................................................90
5.13.1 Standard Gamma Correction.......................................................................90
5.14 Defective Pixel Correction....................................................................................91
5.14.1 Static Pixel Correction ................................................................................. 91
5.14.2 Dynamic Pixel Correction ............................................................................ 91
5.15 Flat Field and FPN Correction............................................................................... 92
5.16 Camera Interface..................................................................................................92
5.16.1 Temperature Monitor ................................................................................. 92
5.16.2 Exposure Time Monitor............................................................................... 92
5.16.3 Frame Time Monitor ...................................................................................92
5.16.4 Current image size....................................................................................... 92
5.16.5 Auto Gain and Auto Exposure Control (AGC/AEC) ......................................92
6Image Sensor Technology...............................................................94
6.1 General information...............................................................................................94
6.1.1 A/D Architecture and Frame Rate Controls................................................... 94
6.1.2 Spectral Sensitivity ........................................................................................ 96
6.1.3 Bayer Pattern Information............................................................................. 96
7Configuration Registers..................................................................97
7.1 Abbreviations .........................................................................................................97
7.2 Saving and Restoring Registers .............................................................................. 97
7.3 Camera Information Registers ...............................................................................98
7.4 AEC/AGC/AWB Registers........................................................................................ 98
7.5 Acquisition Registers (stored in Flash) ...................................................................99
7.6 Trigger Registers...................................................................................................100
7.7 Pulse Generator Registers....................................................................................101
7.8 Test Pattern Registers ..........................................................................................101
7.9 Strobe Registers ...................................................................................................102
7.10 Input / Output Registers ....................................................................................102
7.11 Output Data Format Registers ...........................................................................102
7.12 WB and Color Correction Registers....................................................................103
7.13 Data Correction Registers ..................................................................................103
7.14 Manufacturing Data Registers............................................................................104
8Creating Look-up Tables...............................................................105
8.1 Overview ..............................................................................................................105
8.2 Using an ASCII Text Editor ....................................................................................105

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8.3 Using Microsoft Excel...........................................................................................106
9Creating DPC / HPC Tables ...........................................................107
9.1 Overview ..............................................................................................................107
9.2 Accessing DMP / HPM Files..................................................................................107
9.3Editing DPM / HPM Files ......................................................................................108
9.3.1 Finding defective pixels ...............................................................................108
9.3.2 Finding hot pixels.........................................................................................109
9.3.3 Locating and adding pixel coordinates ........................................................109
9.4 Creating new DPM / HPM Files ............................................................................112
9.5 Uploading DPM / HPM Files.................................................................................113

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REVISION HISTORY
Revision
Date
Reviser
Comments
Rev 1.0
10/30/15
K. Wetzel
Initial Pre-Release l
Rev 1.1
4/07/16
K. Wetzel
Added Register and GUI info. Input from Gennady
Rev 1.2
4/20/16
K. Wetzel
Updated CamConfig registers and C3880 frame
rates
Rev 1.3
5/04/16
K. Wetzel
Updated minimum ROI width to 320
Rev 1.4
5/25/16
K. Wetzel
Update Figure 51 description, removed single tap
mode from Figures 15, 16 and 17. Zero ROT not
supported in Averaging mode.
Rev 1.5
6/07/16
K. Wetzel
Updated PG period and width in Section 2.9
Rev 1.6
7/22/16
K. Wetzel
Updated Mechanical Drawings in 1.6.4, Cheetah
images and Appendix E Power Supply Schematic
Rev 1.7
8/19/2016
M.Pangburn
Adjusted Graph/Data and TOC
Rev 1.8
8/19/16
E. Fateyeva
Adjusted Graph/Data, updated logo in header,
replaced pyramid image with Cheetah sketch
image
Rev 1.9
8/23/2016
M. Pangburn
Review and finalize TOC
Rev 2.0
12/12/2016
R. Johnston
Updated Fixed Frame Period to microseconds,
section 3.3.9. Changed 3.17 to 3.17x, section
2.7.1.
Rev 2.1
3/23/2018
R. Johnston
Updated voltage range to 3.3 and 24 volts in
Electrical Connectivity section; added AGC/AEC
functionality; removed C3880 camera; updated
mechanical drawings; reorganized manual
formatting; updated minimum exposure time and
shutter speed.
2.2
5/7/2018
R. Johnston
Added AEC/AGC Status LED
Updated power supply cable lengths and output.
2.3
9/25/2018
K Wetzel
Change min shutter time to ~50 microseconds.
2.4
8/1/19
I. Barabanova
Added Exposure and Gain Correction Speed,
sections 3.3.5.9 and 7.4.
Added “Usage”, “Min value”, and “Max value”
columns, section 7.4.
Added ENIR camera model in sections 1.1, 1.4.
Added “Firmware build number”, section 7.3.
Added lens mounts, section 1.3.
Added 1.1.2 CoaXPress, GigE, 10GigE and USB3
interfaces section
Removed 1x8, 1x10, 1x12, 2x12, 4x12 modes,
section 2.3.3.
Updated frame rates in 5.2.3 section.
Updated screenshots (AEC/AGC controls, Menu,
View Menu, Trigger panel).
Added more information on DPM/HPM editing
Formatted text and tables.

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1 About the Camera
1.1 General
The Cheetah Python series of cameras provide an imaging platform with the latest digital
technology and industrial grade components. They use CMOS imaging sensors and offer a
broad range of resolutions and frame rates. Cheetah cameras are available in both
monochrome and color.
This manual describes the C5180, C4181, and C4180 model cameras operating with the
Camera Link® Deca/Full, Camera Link® Medium, and Camera Link® Base output interface.
Table 1: Cheetah C5180, C4181, and C4180 overview
Model
Resolution
(H x V)
Resolution
(MP)
Type
Frame Rate
(max)
Optics
ON Semiconductor
Sensor Model
CLF-C5180M
5120 x 5120
25
Mono
32
APS-H
NOIP1SN025KA
CLF-C5180N
5120 x 5120
25
ENIR
32
APS-H
NOIP1FN025KA
CLF-C5180C
5120 x 5120
25
Color
32
APS-H
NOIP1SE025KA
CLF-C4181M
4096 x 4096
16
Mono
50
APS-H
NOIP1SN016KA
CLF-C4181N
4096 x 4096
16
ENIR
50
APS-H
NOIP1FN016KA
CLF-C4181C
4096 x 4096
16
Color
50
APS-H
NOIP1SE016KA
CLF-C4180M
4096 x 3072
12
Mono
67
4/3”
NOIP1SN012KA
CLF-C4180N
4096 x 3072
12
ENIR
67
4/3”
NOIP1FN012KA
CLF-C4180C
4096 x 3072
12
Color
67
4/3”
NOIP1SE012KA
Cheetah CMOS cameras are advanced, high-resolution progressive scan cameras. They are
fully programmable and field upgradeable. Programmable functions include exposure
control, frame rate control, area of interest, subsampling, pixel averaging, gain, offset,
triggering options, strobes, output control, bad pixel correction, and user-programmable
look-up tables (LUT). The cameras use ON Semiconductor area scan Python CMOS image
sensors and feature a built-in processing engine, low noise characteristics, and optimized
thermal distribution.
The Cheetah C5180, C4181, and C4180 cameras use global shutter operation for
exceptionally high frame rates and superior motion capture. The cameras can control
exposure time using internal controls or an external pulse width. They support exposure
times up to 1 second with 1 µs increments. An Area of Interest (AOI) can be programmed for
each acquisition frame, and subsampling or pixel averaging capabilities are also available.

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Built-in gamma correction and user-defined look-up table (LUT) capabilities optimize the
camera’s dynamic range features. You can also apply defective pixel correction (DPC) and hot
pixel correction (HPC) to correct for pixels that are over-responding or under-responding. Auto-
White Balance (AWB) is available in color cameras to correct for color temperature.
The cameras have a Camera Link® interface that includes 8/10-bit data transmission with
two, four, eight, or ten output taps as well as camera control all on one or two cables.
The cameras are fully programmable via the Camera Link® interface. The adaptability and
flexibility of the camera allow it to be used in a wide and diverse range of applications
including machine vision, metrology high-definition imaging and surveillance, medical and
scientific imaging, intelligent transportation systems, aerial imaging, character recognition,
document processing and many more.
1.1.1 Key Features
•Global shutter (GS)
•Monochrome or color
•Enhanced near infrared (NIR) sensitivity version available upon request
•Fast frame rates
•Configurable pixel clock
•Pixel averaging (mono camera only)
•Subsampling
•Area of Interest
•Analog and digital gain controls
•Offset Control
•Three selectable trigger sources: external, pulse generator, or computer
•Built-in pulse generator
•Two programmable output strobes
•White balance: once, manual, or auto
•Two 12-bit look-up tables (LUT)
•Defective pixel and hot pixel correction (DPC/HPC), Fixed pattern noise (FPN)
correction
•Two programmable external inputs (one opto-isolated) and two external outputs
(one opto-isolated)
•Flat Field Correction (FFC), user-defined and factory
•Camera Link® Base, Medium, Full and Deca support
•Temperature monitor
•Field upgradeable firmware, LUT, DPC, HPC, FFC