Maxtor CLC31024A Application Note

Application Note:

Interfacing non-standard cameras to Matrox Pulsar

DALSA CL-C3-1024A May 29, 1996

Camera
Interface
Overview

Camera
Interface
Details

• 1000 x 1 x 8-bit

• 2 channel digital video output (RS-422)

• external sync required

• variable line scan rate

• exposure control

Variable line scan rate

Video

PRIN

Dalsa

CL-C3

• 1000 x 1 x 8-bit

• 2 channel digital video output (RS-422)

• DCF configured for 480 lines per virtual frame

• line scan rate is variable and is controlled by external trigger signal

• Matrox Pulsar receiving TTL external trigger

• Matrox Pulsar sending EXPOSURE1 (PRIN), EXPOSURE2 (EXSYNC) and reference

EXSYNC

MCLK

STROBE

LVAL

TTL external trigger

Matrox Pulsar

(with PULSAR/DIG/MOD)

clock (MCLK) signals (all RS-422) to camera; the EXPOSURE1 and EXPOSURE2
signals control the exposure time

• Matrox Pulsar receiving RS-422 pixel clock (STROBE @ 7.159MHz) and RS-422

vsync (LVAL) signals from camera; the LVAL signal initiates line readout

• DCF used: CLC3_LS.DCF

• in addition to the DCF, PSG FPGA version 3.01 or newer is required; if this version is

not on your release of the MIL driver for Pulsar, the newest version can be found on the
BBS or at the FTP site

Cabling
Requirements

Variable line scan rate

• IMG-7W2-TO-5BNC cable required for TTL external trigger source and

PULSAR/DIG/MOD required for digital data, syncs and control signals in RS-422
format

Application Note:

Interfacing non-standard cameras to Matrox Pulsar

DALSA CL-C3-1024A May 29, 1996

Cabling
Requirements
(Continued)

• the connections between the OS1 20-pin dual row connector of the camera and the 68-pin

SCSI-2 connector of the PULSAR/DIG/MOD are as follows:

DALSA CL-C3-1024A PULSAR/DIG/MOD
(20-pin dual row connector - OS1) (68-pin SCSI-2 connector)

Pin name Pin no. Pin name Pin no.

AD7+ 1 → DATA7+ 10
AD7− 2 → DATA7− 44
AD6+ 3 → DATA6+ 11
AD6− 4 → DATA6− 45
AD5+ 5 → DATA5+ 13
AD5− 6 → DATA5− 47
AD4+ 7 → DATA4+ 14
AD4− 8 → DATA4− 48
AD3+ 9 → DATA3+ 15
AD3− 10 → DATA3− 49
AD2+ 11 → DATA2+ 16
AD2− 12 → DATA2− 50
AD1+ 13 → DATA1+ 19
AD1− 14 → DATA1− 53
AD0+ 15 → DATA0+ 20
AD0− 16 → DATA0− 54
STROBE+ 17 → CLKIN+ 29
STROBE− 18 → CLIKIN− 63
LVAL+ 19 → HSYNC+ 26
LVAL− 20 → HSYNC− 60

• the connections between the OS2 20-pin dual row connector of the camera and the 68-pin

SCSI-2 connector of the PULSAR/DIG/MOD are as follows:

DALSA CL-C3-1024A PULSAR/DIG/MOD
(20-pin dual row connector - OS2) (68-pin SCSI-2 connector)

Pin name Pin no. Pin name Pin no.

BD7+ 1 → DATA15+ 2
BD7− 2 → DATA15− 36
BD6+ 3 → DATA14+ 3
BD6− 4 → DATA14− 37
BD5+ 5 → DATA13+ 4
BD5− 6 → DATA13− 38
BD4+ 7 → DATA12+ 5
BD4− 8 → DATA12− 39
BD3+ 9 → DATA11+ 6
BD3− 10 → DATA11− 40
BD2+ 11 → DATA10+ 7
BD2− 12 → DATA10− 41
BD1+ 13 → DATA9+ 8
BD1− 14 → DATA9− 42
BD0+ 15 → DATA8+ 9
BD0− 16 → DATA8− 43

PUL-CID-017 2

Application Note:

Interfacing non-standard cameras to Matrox Pulsar

DALSA CL-C3-1024A 29/05/96

Cabling
Requirements
(Continued)

• the connections between the DB-25 connector on the rear panel of the camera and the 68-

pin SCSI-2 connector of the PULSAR/DIG/MOD are as follows:

DALSA CL-C3-1024A PULSAR/DIG/MOD
(DB-25 male connector) (68-pin SCSI-2 connector)

Pin name Pin no. Pin name Pin no.

MCLK+ 6 ← CLKOUT+ 24
MCLK− 19 ← CLKOUT− 58
EXSYNC+ 17 ← EXPOSURE2+ 28
EXSYNC− 4 ← EXPOSURE2− 62
PRIN+ 5 ← EXPOSURE1+ 30
PRIN− 18 ← EXPOSURE1− 64
GROUND 7 GROUND 1
GROUND 11 GROUND 12
GROUND 20 GROUND 34
GROUND 24 GROUND 35
POWER SUPPLY GROUND GROUND 46
POWER SUPPLY GROUND GROUND 68

NOTE: it is very important that all the GROUNDs of the camera be connected together to

the POWER SUPPLY GROUND, which in turn must be connected to the
GROUND of the Pulsar

• the connections between the DB-25 connector on the rear panel of the camera and the

power supply are as follows:

Special
Considerations

DALSA CL-C3-1024A
(DB-25 male connector) POWER SUPPLY

Pin no. Pin name

8 +5V +5V
9 +15V
12 −5V
13 +5V
21 +15V +15V
22 −5V −5V
25 −15V −15V

• TTL external trigger source should be connected to the TTL Trigger Input of the IMG-

7W2-TO-5BNC cable

Variable line scan rate

• PSG FPGA version 3.01 or newer is required

• the line rate is variable and is controlled by the external trigger signal

• virtual frame size is 1000 x 1 x 480, with 4 lines of vertical blanking; therefore an

effective 480 lines out of every 484 lines are acquired

PUL-CID-017 3

Application Note:

Interfacing non-standard cameras to Matrox Pulsar

DALSA CL-C3-1024A May 29, 1996

Special
Considerations

• once it has received the external signal to trigger, the Pulsar sends the RS-422

EXPOSURE1 (PRIN) signal to the camera to initiate exposure. The Pulsar will send the
RS-422 EXPOSURE2 (EXSYNC) signal to the camera following a delay that is equal to
the desired exposure time. A short (variable) delay after receiving the EXPOSURE2
pulse, the camera sends the RS-422 LVAL signal to the Pulsar to initiate line readout

timer1 starts counting down from

timer2 starts counting down from

• the time between the arrival of the EXPOSURE1 and EXPOSURE2 signals is the

EXPOSURE2 (EXSYNC)

external trigger

EXPOSURE1 (PRIN)

LVAL

CTRL_SET1CNT

CTRL_SET2CNT

exposure time

variable delay

shift and readout

timer2 reaches zeroCTRL_SET2CNT

CTRL_T2START

timer1 reaches zero

CTRL_T1START = CTRL_SET1CNT

exposure time. In order to select the exposure time, the registers that control the width and
the deployment time of each of the EXPOSURE1 and EXPOSURE2 pulses must be set in
the DCF at the hardware register level. A hardware register editor is provided by running
Intellicam with the -hwreg option (specifically by running INTELCAM -hwreg). An
additional menu item, “HW REGISTER EDITOR”, appears on the main menu screen.
The following registers are used to define the exposure timings:

EXPOSURE1: CTRL_SET1CNTL EXPOSURE2: CTRL_SET2CNTL

CTRL_SET1CNTH CTRL_SET2CNTH
CTRL_T1STARTL CTRL_T2STARTL
CTRL_T1STARTH CTRL_T2STARTH

These are 16-bit registers that have been split in two: the low byte and the high byte.
Here, the timers for the EXPOSURE1 and EXPOSURE2 pulses both start as soon as the
external trigger signal is received by the Pulsar. CTRL_SET1CNT controls the amount of
time that is set on the timer for EXPOSURE1 (timer1); the timer starts at this value
and counts down to zero. CTRL_T1START is the width of the EXPOSURE1 pulse and
also controls the time at which the EXPOSURE1 pulse is sent.

PUL-CID-017 4

Application Note:

Interfacing non-standard cameras to Matrox Pulsar

DALSA CL-C3-1024A 29/05/96

When timer1 reaches the value set for CTRL_T1START, the EXPOSURE1 signal being
sent to the camera goes high. When timer1 reaches zero, the EXPOSURE1 signal goes
low. The EXPOSURE1 signal should be sent immediately to the camera upon arrival of
an external trigger signal to indicate that exposure should begin, therefore
CTRL_SET1CNT and CTRL_T1START must be set equal to each other; this is
accomplished by setting CTRL_SET1CNTL equal to CTRL_T1STARTL and
CTRL_SET1CNTH equal to CTRL_T1STARTH. The Pulsar indicates to the camera
that exposure should stop by sending the EXPOSURE2 pulse. For a given setting of
CTRL_SET2CNT, which is the time set on the timer for EXPOSURE2 (timer2), the time
at which the EXPOSURE2 pulse is sent is controlled by CTRL_T2START, the width of
the EXPOSURE2 pulse. Timer2 starts counting down from CTRL_SET2CNT; when it
reaches the value set for CTRL_T2START, the EXPOSURE2 signal being sent to the
camera goes high. When timer2 reaches zero, the EXPOSURE2 signal goes low. Since
both timers start at the same time, the exposure time is then CTRL_SET2CNT −
CTRL_T2START. Finally, it should be noted that the EXPOSURE1 pulse must remain
high until the LVAL pulse goes low; therefore the time set on timer1 (CTRL_SET1CNT)
must be greater than the exposure time, plus the maximum possible delay between the
EXPOSURE2 pulse and the LVAL pulse, plus the width of the LVAL pulse (the line
transfer time). The maximum possible delay between the EXPOSURE2 pulse and the
LVAL pulse is taken to be 8.9µs (64 pixel times at a clock rate of 7.159 MHz); the line
transfer time is 71.5µs (512 pixel times, since there are two outputs, at a clock rate of

7.159 MHz).
So to summarize:

CTRL_T1START = CTRL_SET1CNT, i.e., CTRL_T1STARTL = CTRL_SET1CNTL

and CTRL_T1STARTH = CTRL_SET1CNTH

EXPOSURE TIME = CTRL_SET2CNT − CTRL_T2START
CTRL_SET1CNT > exposure time + maximum delay between EXPOSURE2 and

LVAL pulses (8.9µs or 64 pixels) + line transfer time (71.5µs

or 512 pixels)
Remember that each 16-bit register is split into a low byte and a high byte. These values
must be in pixels and must be set in hexadecimal; the value of each 16-bit register can
vary between 0 (0000 in Hex) and 65 535 (FFFF in Hex). The default time set on timer1
as well as the default width of the EXPOSURE1 pulse is 6400 pixels, which in
hexadecimal is 1900 (Here the low byte corresponds to 0H and the high byte to 19H).
The default time set on timer2 is 6144 pixels (1800H) and the default width of the
EXPOSURE2 pulse is 256 pixels (100H). The default exposure time is therefore
6144 − 256 = 5888 pixels, which at a clock rate of 7.159MHz corresponds to 0.82ms.
The registers are set in the following way:

CTRL_SET1CNTL 0H CTRL_SET2CNTL 0H
CTRL_SET1CNTH 19H CTRL_SET2CNTH 18H
CTRL_T1STARTL 0H CTRL_T2STARTL 0H
CTRL_T1STARTH 19H CTRL_T2STARTH 1H

PUL-CID-017 5

Application Note:

Interfacing non-standard cameras to Matrox Pulsar

DALSA CL-C3-1024A May 29, 1996

When computing the hardware registers, the following question may be asked: “Some
registers have been manually edited. Ok to overwrite them all? (y/n)”. Answer “no” to
this question and to all questions that follow.

IMPORTANT! These instructions must be followed very carefully; the only registers
that should be modified are those mentioned above. Please consult Matrox Imaging

Applications at [phone] if assistance is required.

• the maximum trigger rate is the reciprocal of the width of the EXPOSURE1 pulse, or in

other words, it is the reciprocal of the sum of the exposure time and 80.4µs. This last
number is the sum of the maximum delay between the EXPOSURE2 and LVAL pulses
(taken to be 8.9µs) and the line transfer time (71.5µs). The default max trigger rate is

1.1kHz

• an RS-422 external trigger input may also be used once the following connections

between the 68-pin SCSI-2 connector of the PULSAR/DIG/MOD and the external trigger
source are made:

PULSAR/DIG/MOD External trigger source
(68-pin SCSI-2 connector)

Pin name Pin no. Pin name

TRIGGER+ 27 ← “RS-422 TRIGGER+”
TRIGGER- 61 ← “RS-422 TRIGGER-”

• use Matrox Intellicam in order to modify the DCF for an RS-422 external trigger input.

Consult the Matrox Intellicam User Guide for more information

The DCF(s) mentioned in this application note can be found on the MIL and MIL-Lite CD, or our FTP site (ftp.matrox.com). The information furnished by
Matrox Electronics System, Ltd. is believed to be accurate and reliable. Please verify all interface connections with camera documentation or manual.
Contact your local sales representative or Matrox Sales office or Matrox Imaging Applications at 514-822-6061 for assistance.

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PUL-CID-017 6