Video Cameras node

The Video Cameras node on the System tab of the Resources pane enables you to manage the identification and configuration settings for each digital video camera connected to your Vicon system. You can also remove or reorder video cameras.

For more information, see the following topics.

Video Cameras node context menu

You can select the following options from the context menu displayed when you right-click on the Video Cameras node:

Command	Description
Reorder	Display the Reorder Devices dialog box in which you can change the order in which digital video cameras are displayed in the System resources tree.
Reboot Video Cameras	Stop and restart all of the Vicon Video cameras in the Vicon system.
Remove Video Cameras (Disconnected or Missing)	Removes disconnected video cameras

Video Camera properties

You can configure settings in the following sections of the Properties pane for video cameras. The available properties depend on the type of video camera included in your Vicon system, so you may not see all of the properties described.

The settings for some properties may differ depending on whether you are using video calibration setup mode or live capture mode. For these properties, changes you make in video calibration setup mode do not affect the settings in live capture mode and vice versa. In the following lists, these properties are indicated by an asterisk (*).

Identification section

Property	Description
Name	A name that you supply, which enables you to identify the camera in Vicon Nexus. Default: Blank
Device ID	The unique identification number Vicon assigns to the digital video camera. The top-level entry for all cameras takes no value. Default: Identified on connection

Settings section

Property	Description
Enabled	Whether or not the digital video camera is currently enabled for use. Default: Selected
Color*	Whether the video camera captures in color. Default: Selected
Shutter Duration*	The length of time that the camera shutter is open during an image capture. The maximum shutter speed cannot exceed the value specified in Requested Frame Rate. For example, if the frame rate is set to 50 fps, an image is taken every 20 milliseconds, the shutter speed cannot exceed 19 ms. Default: 9
Video Saturation	This value controls the amount of color in the image. Decreasing the value towards 0 results in a grayscale image with no color; increasing the value over 1 results in supersaturated colors. Default: 1
Video Gain*(all)	The digital amplification of the pixel value. Select a displayed value to determine the intensity of the grayscale from the video cameras: x1, x2, x4 or x8. This setting is applied to the camera to change the dynamic range of the recorded image. Increasing the gain means that the marker has less variation in grayscale intensity between its center and its edge, but in certain circumstances, using a higher gain yields markers that are easier for the camera to distinguish. Vicon does not recommend using a gain setting higher than x2. Adjust this setting if the markers appear too faint or if the cameras have trouble distinguishing them; otherwise, leave the this property at the default setting. Default: x1
Camera Gain*	The digital amplification of the pixel value. The value can be set between 0-100. Gain on a video camera is similar to the contrast control on a television. Higher values mean a greater camera response to a change in light level and, therefore, a greater visible difference between pixels of different intensity. Adjust this setting until you are satisfied with the image quality– the optimum settings depends on factors such as the ambient light conditions and the Camera Brightness setting. Default: 10
Camera Brightness*	The brightness of pixels. The value can be set between 0-100. Brightness on a video camera is similar to the brightness control on a television; it represents an offset of the entire image signal. Higher values mean a greater apparent brightness of the image. Adjust this setting until you are satisfied with the image quality– the optimum settings depends on factors such as the ambient light conditions and the Camera Gain setting. Default: 50
Camera Gamma*	The gamma setting of the camera. The value can be set between 0.1-10. A setting of 1 is linear. Default: 1
Brightness Offset*(all)	A linear intensity offset that is applied to each component of the video image. Where Video Gain is a multiplication, Brightness Offset adds a value to the component. Default: 0
Capture Path	The drive letter (e.g., C:\ or H:) of the computer from which video data from the digital video camera is to be captured. Because the data rates can be very high, you are advised to capture digital video data to a different drive than the Vicon optical data. For optimum performance, specify a different capture drive for each camera. Do not use a mapped drive. Default: Blank
Pixel Aspect Ratio	The height vs. width ratio of pixels. The default varies according to camera type: Vicon Nexus detects whether the camera is likely to produce non-square pixels and adjusts the ratio accordingly. Default: Depends on camera type

Frame Rate section

Property	Description
Trigger Source	The source of the synchronization signal. Select the Vicon connectivity unit to which the video camera is connected from this drop-down list. If None is selected, no synchronization occurs. Default: Blank
Trigger Offset (ms)*	The sync pulse delay, in millisecond (ms). Default: 0
Requested Frame Rate*	The rate, in frames per second (fps), for the video camera to control the camera shutter speed, data rate, and area of interest to achieve the desired frequency. Default: Depends on the connected camera
Incoming Frame Rate	The actual system frame rate at which the camera is sending video frames to Nexus. The Incoming Frame Rate may differ from the Requested Frame Rate and the rate reported next to the camera node in the System tree due to system limits and fluctuations.

Centroid Fitting section

Property	Description
Threshold	This setting differentiates between markers and ambient light. To enable the cameras to distinguish between light that comes from markers and light that does not, a threshold is applied. Anything above this threshold is deemed to be a marker, anything below is deemed to be ambient light. A value in the region of 0.2 to 0.5 is usually appropriate. Default: 0.5

Hardware section

Property

Description

Destination IP Address

The IP address of the network adapter to which data is to be sent. For video cameras, the Destination IP address must not be shared with another camera.
Always choose the shortest possible path between the camera and the computer and ensure that the network adapter with the destination IP address is plugged into the same Vicon connectivity device or switch as the camera.
Default: Default
For more information, see the PC Setup for Vicon Systems PDF.

Sub Sample Ratio*

Ratio of sub-sampled frames to requested frame rate, for example, for a Requested Frame Rate of 240Hz, a sub sample ratio of 2:1 gives a sub-sampled frame rate of 120Hz.
Default: 1:1

Calibration section

Property	Description
Reset Calibration	Removes the selected camera from the current calibration.
Focal Length (mm)	The focal length (in millimeters) of the camera lens. Set this to a value between 2-100. Set this value if you use the Aim Cameras function or Static Video Calibration. On some cameras with variable zoom, the focal length may be difficult to determine; to obtain the lens properties, see the documentation supplied with the camera.

Commands section

Property	Description
Reboot button	When clicked, reboots the selected video camera

You can also remove or reorder video cameras (see Video Cameras node context menu).

Nexus 2.16 Documentation

Video Cameras node