Configuring Sensor Properties¶

Sensor properties available via tcamprop¶

The tcampimipisrc provides access to the sensor settings via tcamprop. (See https://www.theimagingsource.com/documentation/tiscamera/tcamprop.html for the tcamprop documentation)

Please note that not every control is available for every camera model. For example, some image sensor’s do not support trigger mode. Other controls might not be available because the camera does not have I/O connectors.

Control	Type	Unit
ExposureTime	double	µs
Gain	double	dB/10
BlackLevel	double
OffsetX	integer	Pixels
OffsetY	integer	Pixels
OffsetAutoCenter	boolean
ReverseX	boolean
ReverseY	boolean
TriggerMode	enum
TriggerSource	enum
StrobeMode	enum

Exposure Time¶

The ExposureTime property is a common control that controls the exposure time of the sensor.

Control	Exposure Time
Name	ExposureTime
Type	double
Unit	µs
Minimum	Sensor-specific
Maximum	Sensor-specific

Gain¶

The Gain property is a common control that controls both analog and digital image signal amplification done by the sensor.

Control	Gain
Name	Gain
Type	double
Unit	dB / 10
Minimum	Sensor-specific
Maximum	Sensor-specific

Black Level¶

The BlackLevel property is a common setting that controls the minimum value for a black pixel.

Control	Black Level
Name	BlackLevel
Type	double
Minimum	Sensor-specific
Maximum	Sensor-specific

Offset X¶

The OffsetX control configures the horizontal start position of the readout in partial scan mode.

When setting a value that is larger than possible given the width of the current resolution, the camera will internallyy apply the largest valid value.

Control	Offset X
Name	OffsetX
Type	integer
Minimum	0
Maximum	Sensor-specific
Step Size	Sensor-specific

Offset Y¶

The OffsetY control configures the vertical start position of the readout in partial scan mode.

When setting a value that is larger than possible given the height of the current resolution, the camera will internally apply the largest valid value.

Control	Offset Y
Name	OffsetY
Type	integer
Minimum	0
Maximum	Sensor-specific
Step Size	Sensor-specific

Offset Auto Center¶

The OffsetAutoCenter control can be used to always read out the center region of the image sensor.

When OffsetAutoCenter is true, the values of offset_x and offset_y are ignored.

Control	Offset Auto Center
Name	OffsetAutoCenter
Type	boolean
true	Always read out the center region of the image sensor
false	Read out the region starting at OffsetX, OffsetY

Reverse X¶

The ReverseX control can be used to flip the image along the X axis.

Control	Reverse X
Name	ReverseX
Type	boolean
true	Flip the image.
false	Do not flip the image.

Reverse Y¶

The ReverseY control can be used to flip the image along the Y axis.

Control	Reverse Y
Name	ReverseY
Type	boolean
true	Flip the image.
false	Do not flip the image.

Trigger Mode¶

The TriggerMode control can be used to put the camera in trigger mode. In trigger mode, the camera waits for an external signal before delivering an image.

Control	Trigger Mode
Name	TriggerMode
Type	enum
Off	Deliver images continuously
On	Deliver images on demand

Trigger Source¶

The TriggerSource control can be used to configure which input signal the sensor should listen to in trigger mode.

Control	Trigger Source
Name	TriggerSource
Type	enum
PicoBlade	Accept trigger signal from the TRIG_IN pins of the camera’s PicoBlade connector
FPD-Link	Accept trigger signal via FPD-Link

Strobe Mode¶

The StrobeMode control configures an electric signal that indicates sensor activities to the outside world.

Control	Strobe Mode
Name	StrobeMode
Type	enum
Off	Disabled
On	Generate a signal that indicates the sensor’s light-sensitive period

Cap formats provided by the driver¶

The tcampimipisrc exposes the follwoing caps depending on the sensor that is connected.

video/x-raw,format=GRAY10m
video/x-raw,format=GRAY12m
video/x-bayer,format=rggb10m
video/x-bayer,format=rggb12m
video/x-bayer,format=grbg10m
video/x-bayer,format=pwl-rggb12m

12-bit MIPI packed format layout¶

Bytes 0-2: [pix0_hi][pix1_hi][pix0_lo|pix1_lo]

Example code to convert 12 bit formats to 2 uint16_t values:

uint8_t* src = ..;
uint16_t pixel0 = (src[0] << 8) | (src[2] & 0x0F) << 4;
uint16_t pixel1 = (src[1] << 8) | (src[2] & 0xF0) << 0;

10-bit MIPI packed format layout¶

Bytes 0-5: [pix0_hi][pix1_hi][pix2_hi][pix3_hi][pix0_lo|pix1_lo|pix2_lo|pix3_lo]

Example code to convert 10 bit formats to 4 uint16_t values:

uint8_t* src = ..;
uint16_t pixel0 = (src[0] << 8) | (src[4] & 0b00000011) << 6;
uint16_t pixel1 = (src[1] << 8) | (src[4] & 0b00001100) << 4;
uint16_t pixel2 = (src[2] << 8) | (src[4] & 0b00110000) << 2;
uint16_t pixel3 = (src[3] << 8) | (src[4] & 0b11000000) << 0;