Unibrain 530 Mounting instructions

Unibrain Ultra Compact firewire cameras
Models: 530/550/630/830/850
User Operation Manual
Version 2.0 April 2012

Legal Notice
For Customers in U.S.A.
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B 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 their own expense. You are cautioned that any changes or modifications not expressly approved in this manual
could void your authority to operate this equipment. The shielded interface cable recommended in this manual must be used
with this equipment in order to comply with the limits for a computing device pursuant to Subpart J of Part 15 of FCC Rules.
For customers in Europe
This apparatus has been certified to meet or exceed the standards for CE compliance per the Council Directives. Pertinent
testing documentation is available for verification.
For customers in Canada
This apparatus complies with the Class B limits for radio noise emissions set out in the Radio Interference Regulations.
Pour utilisateurs au Canada
Cet appareil est conforme aux normes Classe B pour bruits radioélectriques, spécifiées dans le Règlement sur le brouillage
radioélectrique.
Life support applications
These products are not designed for use in life support appliances, devices, or systems where malfunction of these products
can reasonably be expected to result in personal injury. Allied customers using or selling these products for use in such
applications do so at their own risk and agree to fully indemnify allied for any damages resulting from such improper use or
sale.

Before You Start
This manual should help you in installation and setting of the camera and we recommend you to carefully follow the instruction
described.
To ensure that your warranty remains valid, read the manual carefully before using the camera.
DO NOT disassemble, modify or repair the camera since there is no user serviceable part inside and may void warranty. For
prevention of fire or electric shock DO NOT remove screws or cover from the camera.
Operation in wet are is NOT recommended and camera SHOULD NOT be exposed to rain or moisture. For prolong life and use
of camera’s CCD, do not point the camera directly to the sun or strong spotlight which may result CCD blooming and permanent
damage. DO NOT operate camera beyond operation temperature range stated and AVOID usage in conditions exceeding 90%
humidity.
DO NOT use unregulated power supply source to prevent camera’s circuit damage.
Use soft materials such as lens tissue or cotton tipped applicator with ethanol for CCD faceplate cleaning ONLY when necessary
and AVOID contact with fingers or any hard object. Do not use solvent, abrasives or detergent in case of cleaning camera body.
Warranty shall be voided for improper usage or fault caused by user or damage caused by other equipments due to negligence
Warranty
Unibrain warrants the original components free of defects for one year from purchase date. This warranty covers failures and
damage due to defect which may occur during normal use. It does not cover damages or failure resulting from mishandling,
abuse, misuse or modification. For every repair or replacement, RMA numbers must be obtained in advance.
Disclaimer
The information in this document has been carefully checked and is believed to be reliable. However, no responsibility is
assumed for inaccuracies, nor is any responsibility assumed by Unibrain. There is no legal obligation to documenting internal
relationships in any functional module of its products, which is realized in either hardware or software.
Copyright
All the materials in this document are protected by copyright and other laws for intellectual property. They are not allowed to
be copied, reproduced or modified for any use without the permission of Unibrain. Unibrain reserves the right to make changes
in specifications, functions or designs at any time and without any notice. The company names in this document may be the
trademarks and trade-names of their respective owner and are hereby acknowledged.
Copyright © 2012 Unibrain. All rights reserved.

Table of contents
1. Introduction.................................................................................................................. 1
1.1. Overview............................................................................................................................................................1
1.2. Dimensions and Description.................................................................................................................................2
1.3. Camera Interface................................................................................................................................................3
1.4. Firewire Port.......................................................................................................................................................4
1.4.1. Trigger Connector Port ..................................................................................................................................4
1.4.2. Status LED ...................................................................................................................................................4
1.5. Electrical Operating Condition..............................................................................................................................5
1.6. Pixel Data...........................................................................................................................................................7
2. Camera Specifications ................................................................................................ 10
2.1. Monochrome cameras.......................................................................................................................................10
2.1.1. Fire-i 830b Specification..............................................................................................................................10
2.1.2. Fire-i 630b Specification..............................................................................................................................11
2.1.3. Fire-i 530b Specification..............................................................................................................................12
2.1.4. Fire-i 550b Specification..............................................................................................................................13
2.2. Color Cameras..................................................................................................................................................14
2.2.1. Fire-i 830c Specification ..............................................................................................................................14
2.2.2. Fire-i 630c Specification ..............................................................................................................................15
2.2.3. Fire-i 530c Specification ..............................................................................................................................16
2.2.4. Fire-i 850c Specification ..............................................................................................................................17
2.2.5. Fire-i 550c Specification ..............................................................................................................................18
2.3. Spectral Sensitivity............................................................................................................................................19
2.3.1. B&W Cameras.............................................................................................................................................19
2.3.2. Color Cameras ............................................................................................................................................21
3. Basic Operation and Features..................................................................................... 24
3.1. Brightness........................................................................................................................................................24
3.2. Auto Exposure Control ......................................................................................................................................25
3.3. Sharpness ........................................................................................................................................................26
3.4. White Balance ..................................................................................................................................................26

3.5. Hue .................................................................................................................................................................27
3.6. Gamma............................................................................................................................................................27
3.7. Shutter................................................................................................................................................................28
3.7.1.1. Fire-i x3x models (530, 630, 830)............................................................................................................28
3.7.1.2. Fire-i x5x models (550, 850)....................................................................................................................29
3.8. Gain.................................................................................................................................................................30
3.8.1.1. Fire-i x3x models (530, 630, 830)............................................................................................................30
3.8.1.2. Fire-i x5x models (550, 850)....................................................................................................................30
3.9. Trigger & Strobe...............................................................................................................................................30
3.9.1. Supported Trigger.......................................................................................................................................30
3.9.1.1. Fire-i x3x models (530, 630, 830)............................................................................................................30
3.9.1.2. Fire-i x5x models (550, 850)....................................................................................................................30
3.9.2. Trigger and Strobe Signal Relation ...............................................................................................................32
3.9.2.1. Fire-i 530, 630, 830 ................................................................................................................................32
3.9.2.2. Fire-i 550, 850........................................................................................................................................33
3.9.2.3. Trigger Timing Diagram for Fire-i 550, 850...............................................................................................34
3.9.2.4. Timing Diagram for External Trigger and Shutter and Strobe .....................................................................35
Fire-i 530, 630, 830.................................................................................................................................................35
3.9.3. Trigger and Strobe delay .............................................................................................................................35
3.9.4. Trigger Mode 0 ...........................................................................................................................................36
3.9.5. Trigger Mode 1 ...........................................................................................................................................36
3.9.6. Trigger Mode 2 ...........................................................................................................................................36
3.9.7. Trigger Mode 3 ...........................................................................................................................................37
3.9.8. Trigger Mode 4 ...........................................................................................................................................37
3.9.9. Trigger Mode 5 ...........................................................................................................................................38
3.9.10. Trigger Mode 14..........................................................................................................................................38
3.9.11. Trigger Mode 15..........................................................................................................................................38
3.10. Strobe Control Register .....................................................................................................................................40
3.11. Trigger Delay Control ........................................................................................................................................42
3.12. Optical Filter Control .........................................................................................................................................44
3.13. Color (Bayer) Patterns Conversion......................................................................................................................45

4. Advanced Features ..................................................................................................... 46
4.1. Binning Mode ...................................................................................................................................................46
4.1.1. Vertical Binning...........................................................................................................................................46
4.1.2. Horizontal Binning.......................................................................................................................................46
4.1.3. Full Binning ................................................................................................................................................47
4.2. Partial Scan......................................................................................................................................................48
4.3. Pan/Tilt............................................................................................................................................................49
4.4. One-Shot and Multi-Shot...................................................................................................................................51
4.5. Multi-Camera Auto-sync. ...................................................................................................................................52
4.6. Asynchronous Broadcasting...............................................................................................................................52
4.7. Memory Channel Save / Load................................................................................................................................53
4.8. Time Stamp Register.........................................................................................................................................54
4.9. Serial Interface.................................................................................................................................................55
4.9.1. SIO Pass Through Scheme ..........................................................................................................................55
4.9.2. SIO(RS232) Registers..................................................................................................................................58
4.9.3. SIO(RS232) Special Commands.................................................................................................................60
4.10. Frame Save Function.........................................................................................................................................62
4.11. LUT (Lookup table)...........................................................................................................................................63
4.11.1. 4 step knee lookup table .............................................................................................................................63
4.11.2. User defined lookup table............................................................................................................................63
4.12. One Pixel Snow Noise Remove...........................................................................................................................65
4.13. PIO Control Register .........................................................................................................................................66
5. User Defined (custom) FIREWIRE Registers.............................................................. 67
5.1. User Defined FIREWIRE Address .......................................................................................................................67
6. Video Formats and Modes........................................................................................... 71
6.1. Fire-i 830b / Fire-i 830c.....................................................................................................................................72
6.2. Fire-i 630b / Fire-i 630c.....................................................................................................................................73
6.3. Fire-i 530b / Fire-i 530c.....................................................................................................................................73
6.4. Fire-i 850c........................................................................................................................................................74

6.5. Fire-i 550b / Fire-i 550c.....................................................................................................................................74
6.6. Trouble Shooting ..............................................................................................................................................75
6.7. Hardware Related Issues......................................................................................................................................75
6.7.1. Camera is not recognized in the device manager ..........................................................................................75
6.7.2. LED is OFF while power is provided either by FireWire or external power........................................................75
6.7.3. No Image or Black Image is Displayed .........................................................................................................75
7. Technical Support....................................................................................................... 76

Unibrain Fire-i 530/550/630/830/850 Operation Manual
Page 1
1. Introduction
1.1. Overview
Unibrain’s Fire-i ultra compact Industrial Firewire cameras(Bonsai) series opens up a new horizon in digital image
processing; by providing more features in a very small form factor while still maintaining excellent cost effectiveness and high
quality. These models are comprised of a wide range of resolutions and are equipped with a FireWire interface and a trigger
to suit the needs of every application. The Bonsai series offer the highest frame rate in each of its resolutions compared
with other products currently available. The very small form factor design has expanded the implementation and broadens
application areas by eliminating the limits that currently exist due to size and weight.
A selection of cameras is available which consist of sensors sizes (1/3”, 1/1.8”) and resolution (VGA, XGA, UXGA) both in color
and black and white.
Unibrain Bonsai camera series possess unique features that support external trigger mode 0~5 plus 14,15, multi camera
auto-sync, one-shot and multi-shot, a wide range of shutter speed, RS232C pass through via FIREWIRETM, Fast format 7, partial
scan, and a high speed up trigger frame rate, which would provide maximum flexibility in applications. Industrial Screw Lock
cable support has been added for more reliable connectivity.
Software support
All cameras are fully supported from Unibrain’s Fire-i™ drivers and software and embed a Fire-i API™ SDK license. Latest
versions of Fire-i™ software and SDK can be downloaded from our web site: http://www.unibrain.com/downloads/
Model Name CCD CMOS Resolution FPS at Max Res.
Black &
White
Fire-i 830b 1/1.8” 1600x1200 16
Fire-i 630b 1/3” 1024 x 768 36
Fire-i 530b 1/3” 640 x 480 86
Fire-i 550b 1/3” 752 x 480 60
Color
Fire-i 830c 1/1.8” 1600x1200 16
Fire-i 850c 1/2” 2048x1536 10
Fire-i 630c 1/3” 1024 x 768 36
Fire-i 530c 1/3” 640 x 480 86
Fire-i 550c 1/3” 752 x 480 60

Unibrain Fire-i 530/550/630/830/850 Operation Manual
Page 2
1.2. Dimensions and Description
Camera Body Size : 29 (w) x 29 (H) x 39(D) mm
Camera Body Weight: approx. 63 gram
Operation Temperature: -5°C ~ 45°C / Storage Temperature: -20°C ~ 65°C
Avoid operation in environment of high humidity over 90% and allow sufficient airflow for prevention of heat
buildup.
Fire-i 530, 630, 830

Unibrain Fire-i 530/550/630/830/850 Operation Manual
Page 3
Fire-i 550, 850
1.3. Camera Interface
The camera’s interface is located on the back of the camera (assuming lens mount is front) as per the following.
Trigger
Connector
FIREWIRETM Port
Status LED