Getting 12 bit data out of 12 bit color CCD (Basler scA1600-14fc)

[nbf]

We are trying to use Labview 9 with the IMAQdx 1394 in combination with a Basler color CCD (Basler scA1600-14fc) which has a resolution of 12 bits. When looking at all supplied Labview examples I find no way to get beyond 8 bit resolution (i.e. 32 bit images). Is there a way to acquire and store the full 12 bit (i.e. 64 bit color or raw uninterpolated) images? 

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Neil

[Kira_T]

Hi nbf,

Have you tried using the 16bit image type?  Does your image appear the way that it should?

Regards,

Kira T

[nbf]

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@kira T wrote:

Hi nbf,

Have you tried using the 16bit image type?  Does your image appear the way that it should?

Regards,

Kira T

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Hi Kira,

   We did set the Bits per Pixel option to 12 and 16 bits in combination with Pixel Format option YUV 422 Packed or Bayer BG 16. The NI Vision Acquisition Express always recognizes the image as a 32 bit RGB image, i.e 8 bits per color, instead of the 12 bits we expect. The image appears normal but it doesn't seem to have the full 12 bit depth.

Thanks,

Neil

[Kira_T]

Hi Neil,

Do you have the option for a 64bit RGB image?

Regards,

Kira T

[nbf]

We think we have tried all combinations, but cannot get the full 64 bit image. How would you do it if you wanted to get a 64 bit image?

I have uploaded to my Dropbox a VI we wrote, based on one of the examples, to attempt to read the image. It displays all the options available to us from the Basler CCD via LabView. The VI shows that the image read is 32 bit image not 64 bit.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/62957002/Bayer%20BG%2016.vi

Thanks,

Neil

[Kira_T]

Hi Neil,

The attributes that are being populated in this VI are based on the Firmware and xml file that is generated when the camera is installed on the computer.  These are not based on IMAQdx.  Are the attributes you are seeing here the same as the ones you see in Measurement & Automation Explorer?

Regards,
Kira T

[nbf]

Hi Kira,

   Yes, I believe they are. I took screenshots of everything we see in Measurement & Automation Explorer for our Basler scA1600-14fc camera and have attached them in a pdf file. Please let us know if you see anything suspicious.

Thank you,

Neil

[Kira_T]

Hi Neil,

At this time, the way that the image is processed is by passing it though a Bayer Decode and the output is a U32 RGB and the unused bits are discarded.  There is no way to get an RGB64 at this time.  Have you tried setting your camera to be 8bit?

Regards,

Kira T

[nbf]

I see. So there is no way to use LabView to access the color CCD data in all its 12 bit glory, I mean I will have to use the Basler Pylon API and write my own C++ application to talk to the camera via the API and get the image; is that correct? I just want to see whether I should give up on making LabView work in this case.

Thanks,

Neil

[Wee-Bey]

Currently, IMAQdx does not inherently support interpreting Bayer 64-bit, only Bayer 32-bit, which means anything above 8 bits per color per pixel is not supported. However, have you tried using IMAQ Get Image Data to get the raw data? You might be able to use this to get the raw data and then analyze the Bayer data yourself, and from there, put it into a 64-bit RGB image.