Versatile 5 megapixel camera

JAI today announced the launch of a new 5 megapixel progressive scan camera in the Basic tier of the company’s new 3-tier C3 Camera Suite - a complete camera range based on JAI’s Core Camera Concept (C3). The new high resolution 5 megapixel camera, equipped with a Camera Link (CL) interface, is available in two versions: BM-500CL (monochrome) and BB-500CL (raw Bayer color). Both models are built around the Sony ICX625 2/3" CCD sensor (2448 x 2050 pixels - QSXGA). This versatile and flexible mid-range camera offers superb thermal management and pre-processing to guarantee optimal sensor operation, giving high quality images every time. Potential applications for the BM-500CL/BB-500CL are numerous, including automotive parts inspection, glass inspection, traffic enforcement, fruit sorting on broad conveyer belts, and facial recognition at security checkpoints. The camera’s well-crafted analog front end design enables it to operate at 15 fps with full 5 megapixel resolution, an improvement over the 12 fps rate found in some 5 megapixel cameras. Partial scanning and binning modes are also provided for increased flexibility and performance. In-camera pre-processing functions include automatic white balance to eliminate the need for performing this function in the host-based Bayer-to-RGB algorithm, LUT for dealing with difficult lighting conditions, and a blemish compensation function which eliminates pixels with extremely low or high output characteristics by interpolating the neighboring pixels. The BM-500CL/BB-500CL also features auto-iris lens control, making the camera ideal for outdoor applications with wide ranging lighting conditions, such as intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and surveillance. The Camera Link interface offers a choice of 12, 10 or 8-bit output; models with GigE Vision digital interfaces will be available in the near future. The BM-500CL/BB-500CL has the same uniform design philosophy shared by all cameras in JAI's C3 Camera Suite, making it easy for system integrators and OEMs installing diverse and complex machine vision solutions to adapt to varying camera demands by simply switching between models across the 3 tiers: • C3 Compact – entry-level camera series with a small form factor, single-tap high frame rate architecture, with a standard digital interface. • C3 Basic - high performance camera series with single or dual-tap imagers, inherent thermal management, and a 55 mm cube housing. • C3 Advanced - elite performance camera series with a broad range of built-in pre-processing functions, resolutions up to 16 megapixels and innovative multi-tap, 2CCD and 3CCD architectures. In common with all JAI C3 Camera Suite models, the new BM-500CL/BB-500CL camera is supported by JAI’s SDK and Control Tool.