Increasing frame rate upto 30 fps and getting bayerrg8 from AVT GigE camera

Question

I am using ubuntu and I have AVT GigEvision camera. The SDK for linux environment for this camera can be downloaded from [Link for Linux_SDK libraries] http://www.alliedvisiontec.com/us/products/legacy.html. I am able to acquire the images at 1 Frame per second as It is some default value but How do I start receiving more frames per second. I am not sure whether it outputs bayerrg8 format or mono 8 format, at the moment I can see a black and white picture. I am not sure whether the data from camera was bayer8 and the drivers automatically converted it to mono8 or the data from the camera is mono8 and I need to convert it to bayer8. Also if yes I am not able to find any specific function to convert from mono8 to bayerrg8.

Answer 1

Setting Frame Rate

To change frame rate on GigE Vision camera you need to set parameter named AcquisitionFrameRate. This is standard parameter and has to be supported by all GigE Vision cameras. In terms of AVS SDK you do it like this:

err = PvAttrFloat32Set(handle, "AcquisitionFrameRate", 30.0);

Make sure you check camera's supported frame rates with PvAttrRangeFloat32().

Setting Pixel Format

The enumeration feature named PixelFormat is used to control camera's output pixel format. There's 4 different 8-bit Bayer formats: BayerBG8, BayerGB8, BayerGR8 and BayerRG8. Your camera might support just one of them or none at all. Use PvAttrRangeEnum(handle, "PixelFormat", ...) to get the list of supported pixel formats. You can then set it with:

err = PvAttrEnumSet(handle, "PixelFormat", "BayerBG8");

It's unlikely that camera streams pixels in one format and later convert it into another, because this would violate GigE Vision standard. Most probably you have pixel format set to Mono8 by default.

Getting Around with GigE Vision Camera

In order to understand what kind other parameters names you can set and how they would work you need to read the documentation for your camera, if you have any. Otherwise you can learn it from the camera itself, using PvAttrList() call to get the list of supported features and later using GenICam Standard Features Naming Convention document describing how particular feature is expected to behave.