PCE Instruments HSC 1660 User manual

HiBestViewer User Guide
High-Speed Camera
PCE-HSC 1660
PCE-HSC 1660
PCE Americas Inc.
711 Commerce Way
Suite 8
Jupiter
FL-33458
USA
From outside US: +1
Tel: (561) 320-9162
Fax: (561) 320-9176
www.pce-instruments.com/english
www.pce-instruments.com
PCE Instruments UK Ltd.
Units 12/13
Southpoint Business Park
Ensign way
Hampshire / Southampton
United Kingdom, SO31 4RF
From outside UK: +44
Tel: (0) 2380 98703 0
Fax: (0) 2380 98703 9

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Getting Started/Overview..............................................................................3
1Acquire View .................................................................................................3
2Strip View ......................................................................................................4
3Working View ................................................................................................5
Chapter 2 Install HiBestViewer......................................................................................7
1Installation Environment................................................................................7
2Install HiBestViewer Software Suite..............................................................7
3Install High Speed Camera driver..................................................................9
4Uninstall HiBestViewer Software Suite .........................................................9
Chapter 3 Acquire View, Capture Series Images .........................................................11
1Install High-Speed Camera ..........................................................................11
2Start up HiBestViewer..................................................................................11
3Acquire View Function Description ............................................................13
Chapter 4 Strip View, Browse and View Images .........................................................22
1How to switch to Strip View........................................................................22
2Strip View Static Information ......................................................................23
3Strip ViewAuxiliary .....................................................................................24
4Save a series of images as general-purpose video file.................................30
5Context Menu Function within Image Thumbnails .....................................32
6Switch from Strip View to Working View ...................................................35
Chapter 5 Working View, Further Examinng and Processing......................................36
1How to switch to Working View..................................................................36
2Play Control .................................................................................................37
3Other functions in Woking View..................................................................42
Chater 6 Hardware Installation ....................................................................................47
1. Installing the Camera ...................................................................................47

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Copyright
All rights reserved. Without the prior permission of the company, no part of this
user guide may be reproduced, adapted, transcribed, or copied.
The trademarks and product names mentioned in this user guide are legally
registered to their respective companies. The usage of this user guide is described for
“High-Speed Camera”. Our company makes no representation or warranties, either
expressed or implied, with respect to the contents hereof and specifically disclaims
any warranties, merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose.
Further, our company reserves the right to revise this publication and to make
changes from time to time in the contents hereof without obligation of our company to
notify any person of such revision or changes.
This user guide is protected by copyright laws. All copyrights are reserved by our
company. Without prior permission, no part of this user guide may be reproduced,
copied, transmitted, adapted, photographied, or transcribed. Any infringement of
copyright will not be tolerated by our company.
Disclaimer
Our company make no warranty of any kind with regard to the content of this user
guide, and the content of this user guide is subject to be revised without prior notice.
We will not take the responsibility including any compensation for any mistake found
in this user guide.

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Chapter 1 Getting Started/Overview
HiBestViewer is Software Suite applied for PC control, and the feature
descriptions are as follows:
1. HiBestViewer is PC control software, also the accompanying software to
the “High-Speed Camera” PCE-HSC 1660 (Except others are not supported by
HiBestViewer).
2. HiBestViewer, Windows Program, should be installed in Windows 7 and
latest Windows OS version or above.
3. At least 2GB RAM is recommended, so 64-bit PC and 64-bit version
Windows OS are recommended to run HiBestViewer.
Main functions for HiBestViewer are classified as below:
(1) Acquire View (2) Strip View (3) Working View
1Acquire View
Help user capture images, and Acquire View functions are as follows:
1.1 Automatically connect to “High-Speed Camera” PCE-HSC 1660 from PC,
and it is listed on the context menu.
1.2 User can select “High-Speed Camera" PCE-HSC 1660 on the context menu.
1.3 Adjust camera’s capture setting, e.g.: resolution, exposure time and
gain.
1.4 Preview used to capture images and displayed on PC screen, is to
make sure the images are confirmed, and also the preparation is
ready before storing.
1.5 Trigger is to start storing image, and user can set up “the number
of images can be stored” before trigger.
1.6 Figure 1-1 is Acquire View :

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Figure 1-1 Acquire View
2Strip View
Help user view a series of stored images, and Strip View functions are as
follows:
2.1 Quickly browse all of series images in order to find out the key
images segment.
2.1.1 Provide image thumbnails and display a series of image
thumbnails at one time for user to view images.
2.1.2 Provide the function of zoom in/out for user to adjust
images range if necessary.
2.1.3 Provide frame number and time (unit: micro-second) for
user to realize “the sequence of serial images and the range
of a certain segment”.
2.2 User can preview a specified image by selecting its thumbnail for
detail inspection.
2.3 Mark the specified image thumbnails:
2.3.1 Set the specified image as the origin of the coordinates
(Frame number 0).
2.3.2 Set A-B play range as the start point (A point) or the end
point (B point).
2.4 Display basic information about a series of images, e.g.: total
number of images, frame rate and image resolution when
capturing.
2.5 Save a series of images as general-purpose video file or image file,
e.g.: MP4, Mpeg2, and Bmp.
2.6 Figure 1-2 is StripView :

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Figure 1-2 Strip View
3Working View
Help user play back a series of stored images, and Working View
functions are as follows:
3.1 Versatile play back:
3.1.1 Play forward.
3.1.2 Play backward.
3.1.3 Play one step forward.
3.1.4 Play one step backward.
3.1.5 Back to the start point.
3.1.6 Forward to the end point.
3.1.7 Replay in loop.
3.2 Set A and B point of A-B play back range.
3.3 Set the specified image as the origin image (Frame number 0).
3.4 Set the play interval. It indicates how many images will be skipped
between current to the next image during play back.
3.5 Set up the play back speed.
3.6 Set a Bookmark to the image or remove Bookmark.
3.7 Set a comment to the image or remove comment.
3.8 Provide coordinate information of a specified position within
image (using mouse to click or drag to specify the position).
3.9 Figure 1-3 WorkingView :

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Figure 1-3 Working View

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Chapter 2 Install HiBestViewer
1Installation Environment
1.1 PC Hardware Equipments:
1.1.1 CPU speed should be more than or equal to 2.0 GHz, and
Intel 64-bit CPU is recommended.
1.1.2 At least one or more USB 3.0 port, and Intel USB 3.0 host
controller is recommended.
1.1.3 RAM should be more than or equal to 2GB.
1.1.4 Hard disk capacity should be more than or equal to 512MB.
1.2 OS Environment:
1.2.1 Windows 7 or above Windows version
1.2.2 Windows 64-bit version is recommended
1.2.3 Run “Windows Update” and install all important patches to
Windows (Based on PC updating condition, it may need
more than one time to update).
2Install HiBestViewer Software Suite
2.1 Turn on PC, insert the setup CD that contains HiBestViewer
Software Suite into the CD-ROM drive, and run “setup.exe”.
2.2 After “setup.exe” running, user may view Figure 2-1 or Figure 2-2
(version number may be different). If see Figure 2-2, it means that
user has installed HiBestViewer Software Suite before.
Figure 2-1 Setup starting

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Figure 2-2 Once installed HiBestViewer Setup
(If selecting “Repair HiBestViewer”, it will be re-installed; if selecting “Remove
HiBestViewer”, it will be removed.)
2.3 User follow prompts on the setup screen to complete installation.
2.4 When HiBestViewer is installed, HiBestViewer shortcut will be
shown on the desktop (See Figure 2-3), and also Windows
Programs will create a HiBestViewer Program Folder (See Figure
2-4).
Figure 2-3 HiBestViewer shortcut on PC Screen

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Figure 2-4 HiBestViewer Program Folder in Windows Programs
2.5 Attention! Do not install HiBestViewer in “Windows” or “Program
Files” or “Program Files (x86)”. Because in these folders, it is not
allowed to create folders or files unless user owns “administrator
priviledge”, this restriction will cause the main functions of
HiBestViewer out of work.
2.6 Attention! HiBestViewer setup program does not install driver; in
other words, “High-Speed Camera” is required to intall driver
individually.
3Install High Speed Camera driver
3.1 Insert the setup CD and run
“Setup_USB_Driver\Setup_BestInc_USB_Driver.exe”.
3.2 User can follow prompts on the setup screen to complete
installation.
4Uninstall HiBestViewer Software Suite
If want to remove HiBestViewer, user can run Uninstall program in
HiBestViewer Program Folder (See Figure 2-5), or “Programs and
Features” via the Control Panel (See Figure 2-6).

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Figure 2-5 Uninstall Program in HiBestViewer Program Folder
Figure 2-6 “Programs and Features” in Control Panel

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Chapter 3 Acquire View, Capture Series Images
This chapter explains how to use Acquire View in HiBestViewer to take a series of
images through shooting the observed object and store these images. Takes “Python
High-Speed Camera” PCE-HSC 1660 for example.
1Install High-Speed Camera 3&(+6&
1.1 Use qualified USB 3.0 cable (the length should be shorter than (three meters),
directly connect “High-Speed Camera” to USB 3.0 port of PC.
If the distance between PC and “High-Speed Camera” PCE-HSC 1660
is more than three meters, user has to use USB 3.0 hub with
external input power to connect USB 3.0 ports between PC to
“High-Speed Camera” PCE-HSC 1660.
1.2 When PC connects to “High-Speed Camera” PCE-HSC 1660 via USB cable,
Windows will automatically recognize “High-Speed Camera” PCE-HSC 1660.
If successful, Windows will install drivers for “High-Speed Camera” PCE-HSC 1660.
1.3 If Windows cannot recognize “High-Speed Camera” PCE-HSC 1660, user has to
install drivers manually for “High-Speed Camera” PCE-HSC 1660. Also, “driver
setup program” is attached to “High-Speed Camera” PCE-HSC 1660 products.
2Start up HiBestViewer
2.1 Double click “HiBestViewer shortcut” to start up HiBestViewer.
The default user interface is Acquire View; therefore, user will see
Acquire View at the beginning.
2.2 If the driver has been installed and at least one “High-Speed
Camera” PCE-HSC 1660 directly connects to PC, then user will see Figure 3-1. It
is shown that HiBestViewer detects “High-Speed Camera” and
automatically selects it as “controlled target”. Therefore, in Figure
3-1, Acquire View shows the sensor type of “High-Speed Camera” PCE-HSC 1660
and provides options for manipulating and also user may preview
the result.

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Figure 3-1 Successfully detect “High-Speed Camera” PCE-HSC 1660
2.3 On the contrary, if fail to detect camera, then user will see Figure
3-2, all the information are blank. It means that all options are
disabled. Prevew function cannot work, either.
Figure 3-2 Fail to detect “High-Speed Camera” PCE-HSC 1660

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2.4 HiBestViewer can automatically detect “if High-Speed Camera is
connected”. Therefore, if user connects “High-Speed Camera”
after HiBestViewer running, then it will take approximately 10 ~
20 seconds to be well aware of “High-Speed Camera”. It takes
times since Windows needs to enforce all USB standard
procedures for a new connected USB device. If successful, user
interface will be restored to Figure 3-1.
3Acquire View Function Description
If “High-Speed Camera” successfully connects to PC, then available
functions are as below:
3.1 Camera Settings: HiBestViewer provides user interface to control
three basic parameters setting (See Figure 3-3).
3.1.1 Camera Resolution Setting: The resolution supported by
camera is limited, so user is only allowed to select
appropriate resolution via the context menu.
3.1.2 Camera Exposure Time Setting: The exposure time
supported by camera is limited, so user is only allowed to
select appropriate exposure time via the context menu.
3.1.3 Camera Gain Value Setting: The gain value supported by
camera is limited, so user is only allowed to select
appropriate gain value via the context menu.
In addition, when Preview is in progress, any setting options are
disabled.
Figure 3-3 Camera basic parameter settings

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3.2 Record Settings: See Figure 3-4
3.2.1 Max Frame: It shows that the maximum of images can be
stored. It is an information field and cannot be revised. Its
value depends on “current total available memory capacity”
and “memory capacity for one image”. Therefore, this
value will change if total available memory capacity is
changed. If user needs to store more images, then it is
recommended to close unnecessary applications and refresh
Acquire View (e.g.: switch to Strip View or Working View
and then switch back to Acquire View). Besides, if PC
memory capacity is actually increased, it also works.
3.2.2 Record Frames: Set up the number of images want to be
stored. User can set up the value based on requirements,
but the maximum cannot be over the former field (Max
Frames), and the minimum cannot be less than or equal to
0.
3.2.3 Record Time: It is an estimated time to complete the record
job. The estimation is based on the former field (Record
Frames) and frame rate of capturing image. It cannot be
revised (unit: second).
3.2.4 Trigger Settings: Set the trigger position. 0% ~ 100% is as
setting range, and its definition is as below:
3.2.4.1 When setting value is 100%: It means all of series
images that have been captured and kept in the
memory will be stored when the trigger occurs. In
other words, when the trigger occurs, just store
what user has got before trigger, and it is not
necessary to capture any new images.
3.2.4.2 Setting value is 0%: It means when the trigger
occurs, the system will start to capture images
from zero. And it will keep capturing images and
put captured images into memory until reach the
number that is specified in Record Frames field or
user stops the operation. In other words, when the
trigger occurs, the system will drop all images that
have captured before trigger. And then restart to
capture images until reach the goal or user stops
the operation.

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3.2.4.3 Setting value is n% and n > 0, n < 100. It means
that before trigger, n% images already are kept in
the memory. Therefore, the system will keep
capturing images and put captured images into
memory until reach Record Frames value * (100%
- n %) or user forces to stop the operation. And
then store all of series images from the memory.
User can use mouse to drag Trigger Settings Bar to set up
trigger position. The detailed information is displayed on
the bottom of Trigger Settings Bar, and cannot be revised
(See Figure 3-5).
3.2.4.4 Trigger Percentage: Display setting value after
dragging Trigger Settings Bar, and the range is
0% ~ 100%.
3.2.4.5 Pre-trigger frames: Total number of images that
has been kept in the memory before trigger.
3.2.4.6 Pre-trigger Time: The estimated record time before
trigger.
3.2.4.7 Post-trigger frame: Total number of images that
needs to be captured after trigger.
3.2.4.8 Time (Post-trigger Time): The estimated record
time after trigger.
Figure 3-4 Record Settings section

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Figure 3-5 Trigger Settings Bar section
3.3 Preview: Click “Preview button” to start, a series of images will be
sent back to PC through USB and displayed in the Preview
Window. Also, “Preview Progressing Information” on the bottom
of Preview Window shows the received number of image frames,
passed time, (Unit is second, and accurate to 2 decimal places) and
frame rate (fps) Note: Received Frame Number is the actual
number of images sent back to PC from camera; Processed Frame
Number is the number of images processed by application. These
two values should be the same under the normal condtion (See
Figure 3-6).

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Figure 3-6 Preview Window
3.4 Adjust the display of images in Preview Window: User can adjust
the way of images displayed in Preview Window. Acquire View
currently supports two display modes:
3.4.1 “Fit”: Fit to Window, based on the size for Preview
Window, automatically be adjusted by the program.
3.4.2 “1:1”: Based on the actual size to display. Because the
image size is not equal to the size of Preview Window, user
may only view the part of image.
Besides, user can use mouse to zoom in/out by clicking the
corresponding button (See Figure 3-7).

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Figure 3-7 Display Mode and Zoom In / Zoon Out
3.5 Stop “Preview” and “Store a series of images”: If user starts
Preview, “Stop button” will be enabled (See Figure 3-8).
3.5.1 Stop Preview: Once click “Stop button”, Preview will be
stopped immediately, and show the message, “Stop grab
image”. That is, “Preview button” is enabled while Trigger
and “Stop button” are disabled (See Figure 3-9).
3.5.2 Stop “Preview” and “Store a series of images”: Click “Stop
button”, user also already triggers, and the system will
cancel the stored images (See Figure 3-10).

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Figure 3-8 “Trigger and Stop Button” in the process of Previewing
Figure 3-9 Click “Stop Button” to Stop Preview
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