Camera properties

Depending on the cameras that are connected to your Vicon Tracker system, some or all of these properties are displayed in the lower part of the System panel when you click on Vicon Cameras or an individual camera.

Note
Some properties are available only when advanced properties are displayed (at the top right of the panel, click Advanced Parameters

).

General section

Control	Description
Enabled	The enabled state of the device Default: Selected
User ID	The customizable numeric ID of the device
Name	A user-defined display name for the entire set of Vicon cameras or for each individual Vicon camera.
Preview Mode	Displays the current state of Video Preview Mode (Previewing or Off). This parameter is read-only.
Device ID	The unique identification number Vicon assigns to each Vicon camera during manufacture.
Serial Number	The camera's serial number (if set).
Firmware Version	The version number of the Vicon firmware currently installed on the Vicon camera.
MAC Address	The Media Access Control (MAC) address assigned to the Vicon camera during manufacture. This is a hexadecimal value in the format ##.##.##.##.##.##.
IP Address	The Internet Protocol (IP) address assigned to the Vicon camera on the Vicon Ethernet network.
Enable Status Lights	When selected, the status lights on the Vicon camera provide feedback on the status of the camera.
Stream IP Address	Override the IP address to which data is sent.

Optical Setup section

Control	Description
Strobe Intensity (for cameras with strobes), or Optical Shutter Duration (for cameras without strobes)	For cameras with strobes, enables you to specify the duration that the camera's strobes are on and the shutter is open. For cameras without strobes, enables you to specify the duration that the shutter is open. Default: 1.00
Threshold	The minimum brightness (intensity) for markers; pixels of an intensity lower than this threshold are ignored. This value can be set between 0–1 to determine the pixels to be considered for centroid fitting onboard the Vicon cameras. Lower settings enable the camera to detect lower light levels, thus making the markers appear larger, but may pick up unwanted reflections and other light sources. Higher settings reduce the noise, but make the markers themselves less visible. This setting differentiates between markers and ambient light. A Vicon camera records 10-bit grayscale data, which for each sensor pixel is a measure of how much light fell on that pixel during a given amount of time. However, the cameras will almost always pick up some ambient light in the volume. 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, but Vicon strongly recommends that you use static markers in the volume in order to establish an appropriate setting. If cameras are evenly spaced around the volume, the same threshold value is usually sufficient for all cameras. Adjust this setting, the Strobe Intensity, and the camera's aperture until reflections are minimized or gone. Default: 0.20
Grayscale Mode	The type of data that the Vicon cameras send to Vicon Tracker. By default Low Jitter is enabled so this setting will be read-only. The Vicon cameras can perform data processing to create 2D data for Vicon markers. They generate grayscale blobs for reflections from objects in the capture volume and then use centroid-fitting algorithms to determine which of these are likely to be markers by comparing the shape of the grayscale blobs to the Circularity Threshold and Maximum Blob Height settings. During this processing, Vicon cameras can produce the following types of data for grayscale blobs: centroids data (x, y coordinates and the radius of the centroid calculated), grayscale data (pixel and line information), or coordinates data (line information, that is, grayscale data without pixel values). Default: Only (read-only) You can specify which type of processed data Vicon cameras send to Tracker (ensure Low Jitter is disabled):
	Auto	Send grayscale data only of the grayscale blobs for which centroids were not generated, that is, those below the threshold specified for Circularity Threshold. Send coordinates data of grayscale blobs for which one or more line segments, or the total number of lines in the blob, exceeds the value set for Maximum Blob Height. If a marker can be centroid fitted by the camera, the centroid is passed to the capture PC. If it cannot, the full grayscale of the image is sent, allowing the data to be post-processed on the PC. This is the default and recommended mode.
	None	Send no grayscale data; send only centroid data (i.e, x, y, and radius data). Any ambiguous grayscale data will be discarded.
	All	Send grayscale data both of grayscale blobs for which centroids were generated and of those for which centroids were not generated, that is those below the threshold specified for Circularity Threshold. Send coordinates data of grayscale blobs for which one or more line segments, or the total number of lines in the blob, exceeds the value set for Maximum Blob Height. Select this setting if you need to see exactly where the camera calculates the centroid with respect to the grayscale marker image, for example when adjusting parameters. This setting results in much larger data rates and files; it may be useful for diagnostic purposes, but do not use it in normal capture situations.
	Only	Send all grayscale and coordinates data; send no centroid data. This setting is useful when focusing or making other adjustments to the cameras themselves as you see exactly the image recorded on the sensor. When Low Jitter mode is selected (its default setting) in the Processing panel, Grayscale Mode is locked to this setting.
	Edges	Send only edge coordinates data; send no centroid or grayscale data. If data rates are very high, for example when there are too many reflections, the camera automatically enters this mode. Use this setting to manually force the camera into this mode.
	No Edges	Send grayscale data both of grayscale blobs for which centroids were generated and of those for which centroids were not generated; send no coordinates data. Use this setting to prevent the Vicon camera from sending edge coordinates. Caution: Even if you have not specified a Grayscale Mode setting that would have coordinates data sent to Tracker, a Vicon camera automatically sends coordinates data – either temporarily or permanently – if it is overloaded with data (e.g., too many markers, too many reflections, hand or reflective objects immediately in front of the camera, too low a threshold or too high a gain). If a camera automatically starts to present coordinates data, identify the source of the overload and attempt to remedy it.
Sensor Mode	Tracker supports the use of the Vantage+ firmware upgrade, enabling you to use High Speed mode on your Vantage cameras without having to change the field of view (FOV) or lens. When you capture optical data, subsampling (selectively reducing the pixel count) enables you to run at high camera frame rates without reducing the FOV (frame size). In High Speed mode, you can run your Vantage cameras at higher frames rates while maintaining the FOV. You can change frame rates during capture and you do not need to set up your cameras again when you increase the frame rate, as the FOV is unchanged. Because the higher speeds are achieved through subsampling (removing some pixels from the frames), some reduction in resolution is incurred. For details, see Vicon Vantage camera performance comparison in the Vicon Vantage Reference Guide (see the Vicon Vantage documentation). Default: Default mode
Gain	The amplification of the pixel value. Select a displayed value to determine the intensity of the grayscale from the Vicon cameras: 1x, 2x, 4x, or 8x. (The available values are those supported by the camera.) 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. 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: 1x

Centroid Fitting section

Control

Description

Maximum Blob Height

The maximum number of pixels per line that a grayscale blob can contain in a horizontal line. If the number of pixels exceeds this value, the Vicon camera determines that the grayscale blob is not a marker, stops processing it, and discards the pixel values (it preserves just the coordinates data, which can be sent to Tracker, depending on the Grayscale Mode setting).
Set this value between 1–500 to determine how large a grayscale blob can be for a Vicon camera to consider it a candidate marker. The Vicon cameras consider grayscale blobs with horizontal lines containing this number or fewer pixels to be good-sized, circular marker images. The higher the value, the larger a grayscale blob can be; the lower the value, the smaller a grayscale blob must be.
Default: 50

Circularity Threshold

The circularity threshold used by the centroid-fitting algorithms in a Vicon camera. WithLow Jitter enabled by default, this setting will be read-only. To change, make sure you disableLow Jitter.
This value can be set between 0–1 to determine how similar a grayscale blob must be to the internal model of a marker – that is a radially symmetric object that has smooth, sharp edges and whose pixel intensity is brightest at the center and gradually fades towards the edges. The Vicon cameras consider grayscale blobs with circularity equal to or greater than this threshold to be well-formed, circular marker images. The higher the value, the more stringent the centroid fitter is; the lower the value, the less stringent the centroid fitter is. You may want to apply higher settings for camera calibration to ensure that Tracker selects the best markers and thus provides the best possible calibration.
Default: 0.50 (read-only)

Capture section

Control	Description
Process in Realtime	Enables you to choose whether the selected camera contributes to realtime reconstruction. Default: Selected

Temperature section

Control	Description
Camera Body, Sensor, Strobe Controller	The temperature reported by the relevant temperature sensor in degrees Celsius

Accelerometer section

Control	Description
Bump Sensitivity	Enables you to select the sensitivity of the camera's accelerometer for detecting bumps to the camera.

Display section

Control	Description
Enable Status Lights	When selected, the status lights on the Vicon camera provide feedback on the status of the camera. Default: Selected

Tracker 4.1 Documentation