Email exchange about camera

From Kheng Lee Koay(UH):

Hello Ginevra,

The camera I had in mind was the Canon VB-300 Wide Angle PTZ Network Camera
(http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=1
60&modelid=14897#ModelTechSpecsAct). It is a Progressive Scan camera with
3.5 monaural, mini-jack Video composite signal output. Probably we could
then convert the signals to Firewire output using ADVC 55 (Advanced Digital
Video Converter http://www.canopus.com/products/ADVC55/index.php)

I have been searching for other PTZ camera with Firewire output,
unfortunately non of the PTZ Camera seems to come with Firewire output,
mainly because PTZ cameras are designed for security systems.

Sony BRC-300P (
http://www.sony.co.uk/biz/view/ShowProduct.action?product=BRC-300P&site=...
en_GB&pageType=Overview&imageType=Main&category=PTZCams) seems like a good
PTZ camera where you can buy an optional interface card that provide DV
output (Firewire). However I could not find any information with regard to
progressive scan on this system.

Of course there are other Firewire cameras (e.g.
http://www.aegis-elec.com/products/firewire-cams.html), however they do not
provide pan and tilt unit.

P.s. Be careful there are two different Firewire specs. Most PCs use the
400Mbps(IEEE1394.A) version rather than 800Mbps(IEEE1394.B).

Unless you know any other good PTZ cameras that are suitable, we might have
to consider a non PTZ Firewire camera and see if our colleagues in Poland
could build us the stable PTZ units.

It would also be great if you could propose a few cameras for us to
investigate :)

khenglee

******************************************************************

From Ginevra Castellano(Queen Mary):

Hi Kheng Lee,

Thank you for your email.
I didn't find any PTZ camera with Firewire output either.

A good option might be going for a Prosilica firewire camera (see http://www.prosilica.com/), which appears to be supported by OpenCV.
This model (http://www.prosilica.com/products/gc1380h.html) looks very good (it is also progressive scan), but I need to check the price.
Anyway there are different Prosilica models that we might want to consider, if you want to have a look at the main website.

As for a ptz camera, the Canon VB-300 Wide Angle PTZ Network Camera doesn't look bad, but it looks like it is specific for visual surveillance applications, as well as the following model: http://www.manchestercctv.com/sony-colour-camera14type-progressive-scan-...

In summary, my impression is that we should go for a firewire camera, but let's see what people think?

Kind regards,

Ginevra

*******************************************************************

From Marek Wnuk (WRUT):

Hi Ginevra,

I've got your e-mail forwarded by Krzysztof Arent.

On Tue, 17 Jun 2008, Ginevra Castellano wrote:

> Hi Kheng Lee,
>
> Thank you for your email.
> I didn't find any PTZ camera with Firewire output either.

So did I.

> A good option might be going for a Prosilica firewire camera (see http://www.prosilica.com/), which appears to be supported by OpenCV.
> This model (http://www.prosilica.com/products/gc1380h.html) looks very good (it is also progressive scan), but I need to check the price.

This model (generally, all G* series) has GigabitEthernet, not Firewire interface.

> Anyway there are different Prosilica models that we might want to consider, if you want to have a look at the main website.

There are many EC*C models with IEEE-1394 interfaces with both CMOS and (preferrably) CCD arrays. There is also the CV640C (CMOS sensor) with IEEE-1394 interface available.

On the other hand, we would have to find a motor zoom/iris lens and a pan-tilt servo for such a camera.

> As for a ptz camera, the Canon VB-300 Wide Angle PTZ Network Camera doesn't look bad, but it looks like it is specific for visual surveillance applications, as well as the following model: http://www.manchestercctv.com/sony-colour-camera14type-progressive-scan-...

In my e-mail to you (8 May) I suggested the VB-C300 camera:
http://www.canon-europe.com/For_Home/Product_Finder/Web_Cameras/Web_Came...
for its wide-angle zoom lens and both analog and Ethernet interface.
I am glad that you like it.

The second link shows Sony SNC-P5 (an affordable ptz camera with network interface at 30 fps at 320x240 image size), which seems to have too small resolution for our purposes.

> In summary, my impression is that we should go for a firewire camera, but let's see what people think?

Yes, FW is claimed to be supported as video source in OpenCV.

In my opinion, an analog/fiewire converter, e.g.

ADVC55
http://www.canopus.com/products/ADVC55/index.php
(Submitted by khenglee on June 2, 2008 - 17:03 on
LIREC->Home->Forums->Development->Hardware systems)

or

DFG/1394-1e
http://www.theimagingsource.com/en/products/converters/dfg13941e/overview/
(by mickwalters on May 15, 2008 - 17:30),

should work fine with VB-C300 PTZ camera.

If we use instead a typical industrial firewire camera with no PTZ features, we will have to find both the motorized zoom and pan-tilt servo for it.

It can be an advantage (modularity), but it can cause certain problems with the camera system integration.

Kind regards,
Marek

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From Kheng Lee Koay(UH):

Hi Ginevra,

It seems that the GC1380H model that you proposed is a monochrome
gigabit ethernet camera, however they do have a color model i.e. GC1380C. Is
that your suggestion or it just a mistake of copying the wrong link that we
go for the gigabit ethernet interface rather than the firewire?
The firewire version of same model (called EC1380C) only provides a full
resolution frame rate of 20fps. Is the frame rate good enough for your
vision system? The GC1380C however is a newer and better model than the
EC1380C and provides a full resolution frame rate of 30fps, but without
firewire.

I found a camera - model EC1020 - from the same website, and this camera
seems to provide firewire output and at a full resolution frame rate of
33.5fps. However the optical format seem to be smaller i.e. 1/2 inch with a
sensor resolution of 1024x768 compared to the other two above i.e. 2/3 inch
with sensor resolution of 1360x1024.

As for the Pan and Tilt unit, I think we can go for a general one e.g.
http://www.dperception.com/products_family_ptu-d46.html which looks quite
nice.

You are right, we should put the contents of the emails we are
exchanging on the LIREC forum.

P.S. It would be great for those who will be working on the vision system to
put their hands up and let us know what are their minimum requirements for
the camera.

Best regards,
khenglee

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From Ginevra Castellano (Queen Mary):

Dear Marek, dear Kheng Lee,

Yes, I sent the wrong Prosilica link.
In the EC1380C model, I guess 20 fps might be reasonable, since the full
resolution (1360x1024) looks more than enough.

In general, I am happy with any camera, provided that some requirements
are met:

- It has to be compatible with OpenCV
- Colour camera
- Progressive scan
- Ideally not less than 25 fps
- Resolution not less than 640 x 480 pixels, but more is better
(possibly 720?576 or more)

Kind regards,

Ginevra