1394-Equipped Cameras for Machine Vision Applications Highlight Annual Vision Show in Stuttgart.DALLAS -- A new set of 1394b-equipped industrial cameras from leading global vendors were highlighted at the 2005 VISION Show in Stuttgart, Germany earlier this month. VISION 2005 featured the latest systems for various industrial applications. Machine vision applications represent a growing niche market A niche market also known as a target market is a focused, targetable portion (subset) of a market sector. By definition, then, a business that focuses on a niche market is addressing a need for a product or service that is not being addressed by mainstream providers. for the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, New York, www.ieee.org) A membership organization that includes engineers, scientists and students in electronics and allied fields. 1394 audio-video standard, due to the significant performance premium 1394 offers over Ethernet, according to James Snider, executive director, 1394 Trade Association. "1394 is now everywhere in this important, growing market," Snider said. "An overwhelming majority of camera manufacturers now are providing 1394-equipped products, and they are penetrating several important applications." Several multinational leaders exhibited cameras featuring the most advanced version of the standard, 1394b, which provides bandwidth up to 800 Megabits/second. Among them were Sony Corporation, which featured color and mono versions; Toshiba Teli; and Hamamatsu. Also, smaller technologically advanced companies such as Point Grey Research, Basler Vision Components and Allied Vision Technologies also are now delivering 1394b cameras. At VISION 2005, Fraunhofer-IPMS demonstrated a 1394b camera development platform based on Texas Instruments' DSP (1) (Digital Signal Processor) A special-purpose CPU used for digital signal processing applications (see definition #2 below). It provides ultra-fast instruction sequences, such as shift and add, and multiply and add, which are commonly used in math-intensive and an OHCI OHCI - Open Host Controller Interface Link Layer Controller. It delivers images with a spatial resolution (Data West Research Agency definition: see GIS glossary.) A measure of the accuracy or detail of a graphic display, expressed as dots per inch, pixels per line, lines per millimeter, etc. It is a measure of how fine an image is, usually expressed in dots per inch (dpi). of 1312 x 1032 pixels at a 15 Hz frame rate, limited by the CMOS image sensor A CMOS-based chip that records the intensities of light as variable charges similar to a CCD chip. Although initially used in less expensive digital cameras, the quality of CMOS sensors has improved steadily. CMOS sensors have advantages over CCDs. . The system includes a high level protocol IIDC IIDC Instrumentation & Industrial Digital Camera (IEEE 1394 working group) , and by integrates a TI DSP so basic image processing functions can be carried out inside the camera. In a booth hosted by Newnex Corp., a Point Grey 1394b camera was connected through a pair of 1394b optical repeaters. In another demonstration, Newnex 1394-over-CAT 5 repeaters were used to connect a Sony 1394b camera to an Apple Mac. Expected market growth of 1394b-enabled cameras is strong. In 2006, a total of 100,000 1394b-equipped cameras will ship, growing to 160,000 units in 2007, and 280,000 cameras in 2008. VISION has expanded quickly since its inception, with over a third of visitors traveling from outside Germany. Some 41 countries were represented from such diverse countries as Australia, Canada, USA, Russia, China and Japan. For information about the 1394 standard and the 1394 Trade Association, visit www.1394ta.org. |
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