VAL VALCam Laptop Zoom with CamLite Operator's manual

VALCam Laptop Documentation
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing the VALCam Laptop,
the first image acquisition system designed
specifically for photo-ID and visual database
applications for laptop computers. All camera
controls (pan, tilt, zoom and exposure level) are
available from the mouse or keyboard. Manual
positioning of the camera is eliminated for
increased operator efficiency.
In addition to hands free control, the VALCam
Laptop uses Video Associates Lab’s
technology. A high intensity light is automatically
fired with each capture. The VALCam will
automatically adjust for perfect captures.
Software adjustments are provided for exposure,
color intensity, and flesh tone control. High
quality captures with perfect skin tones can be
obtained effortlessly in any environment, even
dark rooms!
Video Associates Labs, Inc.
11525A Stonehollow Dr., Suite 130
Austin, TX 78758
1-800-331-0547
www.VAL.com

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Features Include:
•Mouse or Keyboard control of pan, tilt, zoom and
exposure in Pan/Tilt/Zoom camera and zoom in
the Zoom camera.
•Uses optical pan, tilt, zoom for highest
resolution.
•Adjustable external light exposure via software
control. Perfect captures, even in dark rooms
•Hassle free integration of strobe lamp
•Includes 32 Bit Twain Driver. Optional Software
Developers Kit available.
•Will work in all major Windows photo ID and
imaging applications.
•High-resolution single chip CCD array (796x494).
•Auto Focus, S-video output.
•Available in both NTSC and PAL video
standards.
•Kits include Pan/Tilt/Zoom or Zoom only camera,
VideoVue PCMCIA capture card, Flash, software
drivers and cables.
Quick start instructions for hardware and software
installation are provided. A trouble-shooting guide will
help resolve installation and operational problems. The
Imaging Hints and Tips section will help the end user
achieve high quality captures.
If technical support is needed please contact:
Video Associates Labs
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

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Parts List
6500-686 VALCam Laptop Pro with CamLite
High resolution S-video camera with pan/tilt/zoom
VideoVue PCMCIA capture card with software
S-video to PCMCIA cable
CamLite external power transformer
Lamp with trigger cable
9 pin male to 9 pin female D-sub cable (RS 232)
Multi-cable wiring harness
9 pin to 25-pin adapter
110v power cord
Universal mounting bracket for lamp
Instruction Manual
6500-688 VALCam Laptop Zoom with CamLite
High resolution S-video zoom camera
VideoVue PCMCIA capture card with software
S-video to PCMCIA cable
CamLite external power transformer
Lamp with trigger cable
9 pin male to 9 pin female D-sub cable (RS 232)
Multi-cable
9 pin to 25-pin adapter
110v power cord
Instruction Manual

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Hardware installation
NOTE: These instructions cover both the
Pan/Tilt/Zoom and Zoom only camera. Follow the
directions that are appropriate for your system.
NOTE: All cable connectors and matching
receptacles have been color coded for easy
installation
1. Locate the PCMCIA card and the RCA to S-video
cable. Connect the Black RCA male connector to
the Y1 female receptacle on the PCMCIA card.
Connect the RED RCA male connector to the C1
female receptacle on the PCMCIA card.
2. Make sure the computer is powered off and insert
the PCMCIA card with the attached cable into a
PCMCIA slot on the laptop computer.
3. Locate the CamLite external box.
a. Attach the S-video end of the black PCMCIA to
S-video cable with the gray color code to the S-
video receptacle on the CamLite external box.
DO NOT FORCE
b. Connect the male end of the 9 pin to 9 pin cable
to the matching RS 232 receptacle on the black
box.
d. Connect the female end of this cable to an
available Com port on your computer.
e. Attach the AC power cable to the CamLite
external box.
f. Locate the multi-cable camera wiring harness
and attach the 25-pin multi connector to the
matching receptacle on the CamLite black box.

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4. Pan/Tilt/Zoom Camera connections
a. Attach the flash-mounting bracket to the screw
hole bottom of the camera. Tighten the bracket
knob to secure the bracket to the camera body.
Verify that the flash shoe lies behind the
camera body and not to the side.
b. Attach your tripod-mounting block (quick release
plate) to the screw hole on the flash-mounting
bracket.
c. Attach the complete unit to the tripod.
d. Attach the Lamp to the hot shoe connector on
the flash-mounting bracket.
e. Locate the camera multi-cable camera wiring
harness. Connect the brown S-video connector
on the multi-cable to the matching S-video
connector on the Pan/Tilt camera. Verify the
cable connector is properly oriented and gently
insert connector. DO NOT FORCE THE
CONNECTION.
f. Connect the red Visca connector to the
matching red Visca connector on the Pro
camera.
g. Connect the yellow DC connector on the multi-
cable to the yellow matching DC connector on
the Pro camera.
h. Connect the white lamp unit cable connector to
the matching white connector on the multi-
cable.
Zoom camera connections
a. Attach your tripod mounting block to the bottom
of the camera and attach to tripod
b. Attach the flash unit to the hot shoe connector
on the top of the Zoom camera.
c. Attach the white connector on the Lamp unit to
the matching connector on the Zoom camera.

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d. Locate the multi-cable and attach the
brown/black 25 pin D-sub connector to the
matching connector on the Zoom camera.
5. Attach the AC power cable for the external box to a
power source. Verify that the power switch on the
Pan/Tilt camera is in the on position. Verify that the
power indicators on the external box and the
Pan/Tilt and Zoom or Zoom only camera are
illuminated.
The VALCam Laptop hardware is now installed.

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Software Installation.
1. Verifying that the hardware is properly installed and
the PCMCIA card is inserted in a PCMCIA slot
2. Power the computer and start windows.
3. The machine will find the new hardware and request
a location for hardware drivers. Insert the supplied
floppy for your operating system and indicate that the
new drivers are located on the floppy (a: drive).
Drivers for Win 2000, XP and 98SE are provided. Be
sure to use the floppy that matches your operating
system.
4. After the drivers are installed reboot the computer
and restart Windows. Insert the floppy disk, select
Start, Run, and select “Setup.exe” from the floppy.
This will install the ValCam LT Zoom 32 bit Twain
driver.
NOTE: Contact Video Associates for Win 95, 98FE
and NT drivers.
Verify operation
1. Click Start->Programs-
->VALCam Laptop-
>VALCam Laptop.exe.
2. The ValCAM Laptop
dialog box will appear.
If this dialog does not
appear refer to the
troubleshooting section.

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Controlling Pan/Tilt/Zoom
1. Place the mouse over the button and hold down
the left mouse button. The camera will tilt up. When
the mouse button is released, camera motion will
stop. The , , buttons works in a similar
fashion. (Pan/Tilt/Zoom camera only)
2. Use the ↑,↓, ←, →keys to control pan/tilt operation.
Hold down keys to initiate action and release keys to
stop action. (Pan/Tilt/Zoom camera only)
3. Place the mouse over the button and hold down
the left mouse button. The camera will zoom in.
When the mouse button is released, zooming will
stop. The button works the same way to zoom
out.
4. Press the + key next to the numeric keypad. The
camera will zoom in. Release the + key and the
camera will stop zooming. To zoom out press the -
key next to the numeric keypad. Release the –key to
stop the action.

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Capturing and Viewing an Image
1. Verify that the Use Lamp Yes button is enabled.
Verify that the Preview Yes radio button is enabled.
2. Using the Zoom and Pan/Tilt controls(only on PTZ
camera), frame the subject. Zoom in as tight to
subject as image composition will allow.
3. Click the Lamp On button and verify that the Lamp
comes on. If the live preview image is too dark click
the brighter button 1 or more times. If the image
is too bright click the darker button 1 or more
times. Each time these buttons are pressed the iris
level is adjusted up or down. The Iris Level value is
saved to an INI file and will always be remembered
when the Capture or Lamp On buttons are clicked.
NOTE: The lamp will automatically shut off in
about 45 seconds. Click the Lamp On button
twice to turn the lamp back on.

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4. Click the Capture button. The captured image will
appear in the dialog box
Click the capture button again and note that the lamp
will automatically turn on and turn off. You do not
have to turn the lamp on prior to taking a capture.
5. Select the Use Lamp No radio button. Adjust the
Brighter and Darker buttons to set the
exposure. Click the Capture button to take a capture
without the lamp
NOTE: All settings are saved to the Portable.ini
file and will be remembered between sessions.

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Adjusting Camera and Capture Parameters
All camera and capture adjustments are applied through
the Adjust dialog box. Separate settings can be applied
for both lamp and non-lamp captures. All settings are
stored in an INI file and are remembered between
sessions.
The Adjust dialog box can be password protected if
desired. This allows only managers and administrators
access to the Adjust dialog box.
Opening the Adjustment dialog box
Click the Adjustment button on the main dialog
Note: All current and previous hardware versions
of Video Associates Labs are supported. If you
are using an earlier version of our camera, the
dialog box on the left will appear. The dialog box
on the right supports all current cameras.
Note: The NA designator indicates all
unsupported camera functions.

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Using the Adjustment Controls
1. If the lamp is not on, click the Lamp On button.
NOTE: The lamp will automatically turn off in
about 45 seconds. If this occurs, click the
Lamp On button again.
2. Zoom in as tight to the subject as your image
composition will allow.
3. Use the Brighter/Darker buttons , in the
main window to adjust the exposure level.
4. Adjust the Red and Blue spin controls for proper
skin tones (Only available on current
hardware)
If the image is yellow increase Blue and
decrease Red
If the image is green increase Blue and increase
Red
5. Adjust the Cam Sharp control for the desired
sharpness
A value between 6 and 9 is recommended. If
the value is too high the image will look edgy and
over enhanced. If the value is too low the image
will look soft and unfocused.
6. Adjust the Color scroll bar for the proper color
intensity. If the color intensity it too high the card
printer might distort the color rendition. Usually a
value between –30 and 0 will produce good
results
7. Adjust the Flesh Tone scroll control(Only
available on older cameras) for proper color
balance. In conjunction with this control adjust
the Color Balance spin control to optimize the

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final setting.
8. Adjust the Gain spin control if you are in a very
dark room and/or the subject is more than 5 feet
from the camera. In most cases a value of 3 will
give good results. This control can also be used
to make fine adjustments in exposure settings.
9. Adjust the Image Size control to set the
resolution of the captured image. The default is
400x300 but 640x480 should also be tried.
10. Adjust the Sharpness control to set post
capture image processing. A value of 2 is the
default.
11. Click the Restore Defaults button to restore
settings to factory defaults. If desired the Default
settings can be customized by the administrator
12. Close the Adjust Dialog box.

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Taking a Capture with the Twain Driver
1. Open your application and select the VALCam
Laptop twain driver
2. Acquire an image through your application. The
VALCam laptop dialog box will appear
3. Verify that the Use Lamp On and Preview Yes radio
buttons are enabled.
4. Click the Lamp On button. The lamp will come on.
Adjust the Iris controls, for proper exposure.
NOTE: The lamp will go off after 40 seconds.
Double click the Lamp On button to turn the
lamp back on.

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5. Click the Capture button or press the ‘C’ key and the
image will be displayed in the window. If the image is
acceptable, click the Save button or press the ‘S’
key to send the image to your application. If the
image is not acceptable click the Capture button to
take another capture. All image settings will be
saved to the Portable.ini file and remembered
sessions.
NOTE: The ‘C’ and ‘S’ are short keys for capturing
the image
6. Once the settings are optimized, the Capture button
can be clicked without clicking the Preview check
box or clicking the Lamp On button.
Taking a Capture without using the Lamp
1. Make sure that the Use Lamp Off radio button is
enabled.
2. Adjust exposure using the brighter and darker
buttons. Note that the preview window exposure
will change immediately.
3. Click the Adjustments button to open the Adjust
Dialog box. Verify the Lamp is off and adjust settings

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to optimize the image
4. Click the Capture button
Setting an Administrators Password
1. Locate and double click on the Portable.INI file
located in the Windows folder or sub folder
2. The file will open in Notepad. Scroll down and
locate the Password=None entry.
3. Modify this entry with a password of your choice
Example: Password=007
4. Restart the VALCam application and click the
Adjust button
5. You will be prompted to enter your password
Enter 007 to open the Adjust Dialog box.

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Trouble Shooting
1..“Camera Not Found” dialog box displayed when
trying to start the application.
a. Verify that all cable and camera
connections conform to the instructions in
the Hardware installation section
b. Verify that the software has been installed
according to directions
c. Verity that the external power box and
camera have their green LED illuminated
d. Run the Black Box Tester utility under
Programs->VALCam Laptop
e. Verify that the Com port is enabled in the
BIOS and that another application is not
using the Com port. Some applications can
grab the COM port during boot up. In this
case an available COM port may not be
available for the VALCam application. In
most cases these applications can be
disabled from starting during boot up
releasing the Com port for the VALCam.

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2. I receive a slew of error messages when trying to
start the application.
In Win95/Win98SE/ME/2000 check Device
Manager to verify that the hardware is properly
installed. There should be an entry for Video
Associates Labs in the Sound Video Game
Controller section. Verify that there are no
error indicators next to the Video Associates
Labs section.
3. The application runs fine when started on its own,
but cannot make it run from my application.

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a. Verify that you have selected the VALCam as
the twain source for your application. Consult the
your application instructions for selecting a
Twain source if you do not know how this is
done.
b. Verify that the file Twain_32.dll is in your
Windows directory.