"user manual"
Contents
1. PC Monitor Camera OGO Internal or external Trigger in CamWare l 0 E PCl Interface Board Graphic Board PCI Bus Command in CamWare 8 24 or 32 Bit Convert Control depending of the graphic setup MEMORY Driver SW 16 Bit Array 8 Bit Array for 8 Bit Graphic Board Command in CamWare EXPORT for formats ti 8 Bit BMP 8 Bit B16 12 Bit TIFF 16 Bit Hard Disk FITS 16 Bit wor ASCII 16 Bit gt IMPORT SEQUENCE for formats e BMP 8 Bit ee B16 16 Bit TIFF 16 Bit Computer PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO 18 2 Functional Principle 2 2 Principles of the Image Intensification Following drawing sketches the function principle of the MCP intensifier 180V 80V 0 900V 6kV shutter on off gain acceleration voltage CS light e gt light object lens photocathode MCP phosphor screen connected to a pulser micro channel plate connected to a high voltage e g HVP5N HVP2N power supply e g HVMCP Light emitted from an object releases photoelectrons at the photocathode The photoelectrons enter the channels of a mi cro channel plate MCP where they are multiplied producing secondary electrons Finally the accelerated electrons hit a phosphor screen producing a light emission Photocathode The photocathode consists of a thin layer of a material with a PCO 20042. PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO 20ns 999ms 3 Timing 25 System Delay 125ns 2ns Pulser Delay J f A HVP3X 60 ns In addition to the selected delay and exposure times there is a system delay and a pulser delay time They are defined by the system itself and cannot be changed Del Exp Time Delay Exposure ms ns ms ns C oon Jnoosn0 forr Tooos00 ooo lora fos Jooos00 fooo 1004400 fo00 Tooos00 foo foooc0 fooo Yooonoo oon foooo00 a Lgops 1 256 Ko Intensifier Timing CCD Timing e System Delay Exposure time of the CCD Time Phosphor Decay CCD Readout f Internal Trigger auto External Trigger extern Readout time of the CCD sensor E The readout time depends of the sensor type ie VGA or SuperVGA of the selected binning and ulti Trigger M4 j C auto C ertem Phosphor MCP e Decay ms fio Gain feo 0 PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO of the ROI region of interest The exact readout time can be seen in the Info field of the Camera Control window Phosphor Decay The phosphor decay time depends of the used phosphor material The CCD integration time will be increased by the Decay ms time This Loop function requires additionally approx 700ns 26 3 Timing 3 3 DiCAM PRO in Double Trigger Mode Double Trigger Mode lt 20ns gt 20ns max max pulse frequency frequency
3. P Serial Data Transfer parallel serial 12Bit A D Converter Power Unit Trigger Input Power Supply CCD Head with cooling PCl Interface Board 2 Functional Principle 17 Internal Data Stream of black white cameras The PCl Board gets the 12bit data from the camera and trans fers it via PCl Bus to a 16bit array of the PC Memory The higher 4bits are set to zero The 16bit data are automatically converted in a 8bit array and accessed by the graphic board Depending on graphic board setup display on the monitor is ef fected in 8 24 or 32 bit File Formats The command Export stores 16bit or 8bit data on hard disk in B16 TIFF FITS BMP or ASCII format For further information see Chapter 2 3 Display The camera which acquires always 12 bit images resolves with 4096 2E12 grey levels between black and white however the monitor display of the image is always limited to 8 bit and there fore to 256 2E8 grey levels The command Convert Control allows to select a discretionary range between 0 4095 grey levels which is then displayed in 256 grey levels on the PC monitor
4. Power and Gating Supply for the Image Intensifier Phosphor Voltage 6 7KV internally adjusted ripple 15mV MCP Voltage 0 900V externally adjusted ripple 15mV Photocathode Voltage on 180V off 80V Gating Module HVP3X In Ultra Fast Gating mode min pulse width 5ns optional 3ns 1 5ns max pulsing frequency 3 3kHz In High Rate Gating mode min pulse width 20ns max pulsing frequency 2MHz Optical Coupling Ultra Speed Tandem Lens Collimator Lens Rodenstock F2 5 105mm Output Lens F1 0 33mm or F1 5 46mm Quantum Efficiency typ Vignetting Resolution Scaling Rates 18mm and VGA sensor 25mm and VGA sensor 25mm and SuperVGA sensor SuperVGA CCD Interline Progressive Scan with lens on chip 1280 H x 1024 V CCD Data Sensor Type 640 H x 480 V Number of Pixels Pixel Size 9 9um x 9 9um 6 7um x 6 7um Sensor Format Ys Scan Area 6 3mm x 4 8mm 8 6mm x 6 9mm Cooling Type 2 stage peltier cooler with forced air cooling CCD Temperature 15 C Full Well Capacit 35 000 e Scan Rate 12 5 MHz Readout Noise 12 5 MHz 13 14 A D Converter 12 Bit 12 5MHz A D Conversion Factor 7 5 e count Max Quantum Efficiency gt 40 monochrome 520nm Spectral Response monochrome 280 1000nm Average Dark Charge lt 0 1 e pixel sec Extinction Ratio x See Definitions and Measurement Conditions PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO
5. The intensifier s lifetime also depends on the number of expo sures whether they are single ones or taken with a high imaging frequency Secondary photoelectron multiplication occurs in the micro channel plate MCP made of lead glass and having about 10 10 microscopic channels of typically 64m diameter and 0 5 mm length Each channel represents a photomultiplier which dynodes are replaced by a continuous semiconducting surface Manufactur ing of such micro channel plates is a rather complex process while the properties of the final device may be widely manipu lated to yield the desired result The intensification depends mainly from two parameters the ratio of the channel s length to diameter and the applied voltage The variation of the light in tensification of the image intensifier is just a result of variation of the applied MCP voltage For the described type of MCP it ranges from 0 to 10 V After all the electrons are accelerated towards the phosphor screen by fixed bias voltage of several KV producing a light emmittance For the choice of the right phosphor the quantum efficiency and the afterglow decay time play a part The decay time may vary from a few nanoseconds to a few seconds de pending on the phosphor material Thus it has to be carefully selected to match the applications preconditions Mainly the Double Trigger Mode which carries out two expo sures with very short time demands a fast phosphor w
6. 8 Appendix 3 CCD Data VGA SuperVGA Smear lt 0 005 Anti Blooming gt 1000 CCD Qualit grade 0 Non Linearit lt 1 Readout Time Full Frame Binning Horizontal Binning Vertical Blemishes Point Defects Cluster Defects Column Defects Warm Pixels pixels gt 100e pixels gt 5e 0 2 0 2 pixels gt 1 250 1000 Non Uniformity in darkness typ 1 count Non Uniformity in brightness typ 0 2 pixels gt 12 0 QO pixels 8 12 0 pixels 4 8 0 pixels 2 4 0 5 Optical Input C Mount with adjustable focus length Dimension Head 93 W x 78 H x 210 L mm Weight 8 kg Operating Temperature 0 40 C Storage Temperature 20 70 C Humidity 10 90 non condensing High Speed Serial Link High Speed Serial Link standard fiber optic link 10 1500m SC connectors PCl Interface Board PCI Local Bus compatible revision 2 1 16 MByte S O Buffer RAM 16 MByte Trigger Input TTL level rising falling edge BNC connector or FOL Power Supply Power Supply Desktop AC DC 90 260V 12V IEC connector 12V 4 5A x See Definitions and Measurement Conditions PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO 38 8 Appendix Definitions and Measurement Conditions 1 Extinction ratio It is the ratio of electronic shutter off Vor to electronic shutter on Von It is measured with an exposure time set to 100ns and a pulsed laser diode 20ns illumination During
7. DiCAM PRO X Phosphor Decay e Decay ms fio Gain feo 0 Phosphor MCP Readout time of the CCD sensor The readout time depends of the sensor type VGA or SuperVGA of the selected binning and of the ROI region of interest The exact readout time can be seen in the Info field of the Camera Control window The phosphor decay time depends of the used phosphor material The CCD integration time will be increased by this Decay ms time The Loop function requires an additional internal time of 5 x 64us VGA sensor respect 5 x 117us SuperVGA sensor for each loop 24 3 Timing 3 2 DiCAM PRO in Multi Trigger Mode Multi Trigger Mode lt 20ns gt 20ns allowed two exposures allowed max pulse frequency Del Exp Time Delay Exposure Delay Time ms ns ms ns 0 999ms fooo fooo1oo fooo fooosoo on looosoo looo forso00 xposure Time Steps see below 011 4000500 000 1078000 Bone 999ms foo3 foooso0 ooo 004400 foo0 fooooo fooo ododo Steps see below Loops 000 jooo000 1000 1000000 1 256 fooo Joooood fooo foooooo The selected delay and Loops 1 256 f exposure time pairs can be repeated up to 256 Each Loop will be triggered separate Trigger auto or external Delay Possible settings for delay and exposure times Following there is an overview of the possible settings for delay and exposure Trigger times 20ns steps 999ms
8. info pco de www pco de
9. 2 MHz Se delay between two expo iot sues eine aooo min exposure time allowed dead time between both exposures Del Exp Time Delay Exposure ms ns ms ns i ooo fooooo0 fooo fot2000 l Otome ooo fooson foon forono zone 888m Steps see below Steps see below Possible settings for delay and exposure times Following there is an overview of the possible settings for delay and exposure times Trigger Delay 20ns steps 0 10ms Exposure d me ooo 20ns 999ms PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO 3 Timing 21 System Delay 125ns 2ns In addition to the selected delay and exposure times there is a system delay and a pulser delay time They are defined by the system itself and cannot be changed The Double Trigger Mode should only be used for short time separation between the two exposures Otherwise the camera should be operated in the Single Trigger Mode or in the Multi Trigger Mode Del Exp Time Delay Exposure Aims ns _ ms fns Pulser Delay HVP3X 60ns o oop foo4500 fooo fotooo Jooo Jonoooo Jooo fo12000 t 1 Exposure 2 Exposure e e System Delay Pulser Delay Intensifier Timing CCD Timing f Internal Trigger auto External Trigger extern gt ips Delay2 Incl Dead Time Exposure Time Image 1 Exposure Time Image 2 Time CCD
10. CD or after downloading from internet Installation under Linux The Linux driver is on the enclosed CD or can be downloaded from internet under http Awww pco de In case the downloaded drivers are compressed you have to decompress them with a suitable program e g ZIP program TAR program Detailed instructions for installation you will find in the readme file PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO 12 1 Installation and Powering Up Installation from CD Installation from Internet Hotline PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO Remark 1 3 Installation of the Software CamWare CamWare is a 32 Bit Windows application With CamWare all camera parameters can be set The images can be displayed on the monitor and saved on hard disk For detailed information please see the separate manual CamWare You will find the software CamWare on the enclosed CD The newest version can also be downloaded from the internet under http Awww pco de In case the CD will not start automatically please start it manu ally by double click starter exe Please select your camera and the software CamWare Download CamWare from the Internet to a free selected direc tory The downloaded file must be decompressed with a suit able program e g ZIP program Start the installation with setup exe The newest information how to install CamWare can be found in the readme txt file To install CamWare under Windows 2000 Windows NT or Windows XP you
11. DiCAM PRO low activation energy for electrons and allows a high quantum efficiency down to long wavelength Choosing the right material and layer thickness the spectral sensitivity can be varied from the near UV to the near infrared The quantum efficiency number of photoelectrons to number of photons of many materials is as high as 10 or even above By applying a voltage to the photocathode electrons are either pushed towards the MCP negative voltage or hold back in the photocathode positive voltage This property of the intensifier makes it particularly suited as an electronic shutter Not all the voltages of a few KV applied to the intensifier has to be switched for this purpose A potential difference of 200 250 V at the photocathode is sufficient to achieve a shutter ratio of 1 10 High performance high voltage generators achieve gate times of a few nanoseconds The capacitive load approx 100pF of the photocathode is switched with a rise and fall time of 1 2 ns 2 Functional Principle 19 Caution Micro Channel Plate MCP Phosphor Screen PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO CHANNEL The image intensifier s photocathode is the most sensitive com ponent of the camera Its lifetime depends decisively of the photocathode current photo effect Setting a high MCP gain spares the photocathode since a low incident light generates low photocathode current and already produces enough signal to saturate the CCD
12. Readout CCD Readout Image 1 Image 2 e e r Mode Readout time of the CCD sensor The readout time depends of the sensor type VGA or SuperVGA of the selected binning and of the ROI region of interest The exact readout time can be seen in the Info auto estem Delay 2 must be minimum 500ns because the dead time is included Delay 1 Exposure 1 and Delay 2 incl 500ns dead time must be minimum 1ps PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO field of the Camera Control window 28 4 Trigger Control Electrical Trigger Input Optical Trigger Input Trigger LED BNC Socket at the PCI Board o Og ed PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO 4 Trigger Control There are two ways of triggering the DiCAM PRO internally via the DiCAM Control software and externally via the trigger input at the rear panel of the camera For external triggering you can select between electrical or op tical trigger A TTL signal 5V with rising edge is required The rise time should be lt 20ns Internally the input is connected to ground GND with 1kQ A trigger signal has to last for a minimum of 10ns A light power of 1mW is sufficient At the camera rear panel you will find a LED in the segment TRIG This LED may show three colors orange During time between trigger signal and CCD readout time red At the beginning of the CCD readout time the L
13. few minutes LED should change to continuous green In case the intermittent state is going on constantly there could be an error with the cooling In this case please contact PCO System ready Starting CamWare Now start the program CamWare from the directory Programme Digital Camera ToolBox For detailed information to CamWare please see the separate manual CamWare PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO 16 2 Functional Principle Block Diagram PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO Lens adapter 2 Functional Principle The images captured by the camera head will be transferred via a high speed data transfer to the PCl Board in the com puter The data will be saved in the RAM of the computer where the operator can decide what to do with them With the enclosed software CamWare the camera can be con trolled within the windows environment and the images can be displayed on the monitor The Recorder function allows you to record image sequences and display them as movies The maximum memory space for the recorded images depends solely on the RAM size of your computer When starting the program the software automatically recog nizes the camera type For detailed information to CamWare please see the separate manual CamWare 2 1 Block Diagram and Data Stream In the following block diagram the structure of the complete camera system is shown Image Tandem 3 Intensifier Optics Logic Control
14. under Windows 9x ME 2000 XP nsss 11 Installation under Windows NT c ec eee cess eeneeeeeeeeee 11 Installation Under LINUX eceeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeteeeeeeeees 11 1 3 Installation of the Software CamWate sssseneeee 12 1 4 Camera and PCI Boatrd s ccssesseeeeeeeseeeeseeeseeenseeeseees 13 Serial Data Transfer via FOL cccccccceeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaees 13 1 5 Lens Mo ntsi m a se eee ay cies ates acy candace a iadaaa 14 1 6 Powering Up cseecseeeseeeeteesnesssneesneessneeseeeesneesesesnenseeseneees 15 2 Functional Principle 2 1 Block Diagram and Internal Data Stream 16 2 2 Principles of the Image Intensification cssseeseee 18 PhotoGathode sa secicas cv eves rrain nananana nae eanta rasaae Saaai Micro Channel Plate Phosphor Screen csccscesseseeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeseseaeenaeeaes 3 Timing 3 1 DiCAM PRO in Single Trigger Mode 3 2 DiCAM PRO in Multi Trigger Mode 3 3 DiCAM PRO in Double Trigger Mode 4 Trigger Control Electrical Trigger Input ccssecsesscccsserseseeseecesrseseeseeeones 28 Optical Trigger Input BNC Socket on the PCI Board sssrin 28 5 Control Signals GATE OUT output Signal ceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeeeeneeeeeeaeees 29 GATE DIS input Signal eee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeatee 29 Jack Plug Socket at the PCI Board c cesceeseeeteeeteeeee 29 LED at the PCI Board ccccccececceeeeeseeee
15. 4 0 Workstation Microsoft Windows 2000 Workstation Microsoft Windows XP Linux Kernel 2 2 preferable SuSE 6 3 or newer In case of working with Linux please contact PCO Graphic Board For best display of images on the monitor we recommend the use of highest performance boards with at least 4MB RAM preferable with AGP Bus architecture Graphic Setup The camera generates 12 Bit 4096 grey levels For display on the PC Monitor 8 Bit 256 grey levels respectively 3x8 Bit in true color 16 7 millions colors are generated In general several graphic setups are possible We recom mend the setting with 24 or 32 Bit with 16 7 million colors In the 256 Color Modus twenty colors are used by Windows for internal purposes This modus allows to display a maximum of 236 grey levels Therefore only 7 bit 128 grey levels are used for black white display Some graphic boards use in principle 6 bit for the 256 Color Modus i e not more than 64 grey levels can be displayed on the monitor PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO 10 1 Installation and Powering Up Installing the PCl Board PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO Caution Before touching the PCl Board make sure you have not accu mulated static charges A discharge may destroy the sensitive electronics and voids any guarantee Insert the PCl Board in a free PCl slot of your computer and screw the bow onto the PC housing Make sure the board does not touch any electrical conducting parts hous
16. DICAM PRO Operating Instructions pco Imaging Safety Instructions 3 Safety Instructions For your own safety and in order to guarantee a safe operation of the camera please read carefully the following information prior to using the device e While operating with the camera system please be careful that the image intensifier is not over exposed While not using the camera protect it by using a lens cap e Never operate the camera at places where water or dust might penetrate e Place the camera on a sufficiently stable basis Shocks like e g dropping the camera onto the floor might cause serious damage to the device Therefore exclusively the tripod attachment at the bottom side should be used for mounting the camera e Always unplug the camera before cleaning it Do not use cleaning liquids or sprays Instead use a dry soft duster e Never insert any objects through the device s slots The ap plied voltage inside the camera can cause short circuits or electrical shocks e The slots in the camera housing bottom and rear panel are needed for ventilation In order to guarantee a proper opera tion and to prevent overheating of the camera these slots must always be kept free e Make sure that the connecting cable is in good condition and that the link to the socket does not represent an obstacle e Detach the camera and contact the customer service in the following cases When cable or plug are damaged o
17. ED is for about 10ms red and changes to green green After changing from red to green the LED stays green until a new trigger signal is sent The BNC Socket at the PCl Board has no function 5 Control Signals GATE OUT GATE DIS 29 5 Control Signals At the camera rear panel there are two BNC sockets with con trol signals High active TTL control output For exposure times gt 20ns there is a TTL high active signal at the GATE OUT socket while the photocathode is on It starts 60ns before the photocathode on times and ends 60ns before the off time pulser delay For exposure times lt 20ns the GATE OUT pulse is always 100ns Low active TTL control input While the GATE OUT is active photocathode is on the on time can be disabled by a low active TTL signal Please note that you may activate this control input only for ex posure times gt 20ns Jack Plug Socket at the PCI Board ie e TRIG IN H BUSY STORE PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO The 3 5mm stereo jack plug socket at the PCl Board has a double function Function 1 BUSY Signal This control output signals if the camera is ready to accept a new trigger signal While BUSY is active an external trigger sig nal will be ignored The BUSY signal edge depends of the selected trigger input edge of the TRIG IN signal When the trigger input is falling edge selected in the CameraControl window an ou
18. MCP intensifiers without photocathode di rectly coupled to an evacuated experimental setup detect x rays electrons or other charged particles 21 3 Timing 3 Timing The info field of Camera Control contains the actual read out time and image repeat frequency frames per second fps de pending on the chosen setting ROI binning Information Del Exp 0 44ms Readout 12 39ms fps 77 93Hz Info CCD readout time repetition frequency frames per second Pulser type The following trigger modi of the DiCAM PRO are different depending of the used pulser HVP3X pulser type minimum pulse length HVP3X 3 HVP3X 5 HVP3X 20 If you want to make single exposures please go on reading on the next page with DiCAM PRO in Single Trigger Mode If you want to make multiple exposures please go on reading on page 24 with DiCAM PRO in Multi Trigger Mode If you want to make double exposures please go on reading on page 26 with DiCAM PRO in Double Trigger Mode PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO 22 3 Timing 3 1 DiCAM PRO in Single Trigger Mode Single Trigger Mode lt 20ns gt 20ns max pulse frequency 3 3 KHz resulting minimum delay between 300us 500ns two exposures Del Exp Time Delay Time 0 1000s Delay jooooo0 ms Steps see below pope 000780 ns 1 256 Exposure Joooo00 ms The selected delay and 000300 ns Exposure Time exposure time can be x ns 1000s x dependi
19. a Cybernetics e lImage Pro Plus version 3 0 and higher Media Cybernetics e LabView National Instruments Please feel free to ask for information about these programs In case your software is not listed above please contact PCO In case you have written your own software or you wish to in clude the control software into already existing programs the camera control may be integrated as DLL file by using our Soft ware Development Kit SDK The following SDK s with detailed manual are available e SDK for Windows 9x ME 2000 NT XP e SDK for Linux The SDK can be found on the CD or can be downloaded from Internet under http www pco de To work with the camera properly a Twain driver and the follow ing PCl Board drivers are available e PCl Board driver for Windows 9x ME 2000 XP e PCl Board driver for Windows NT e PCl Board driver for Linux The drivers can be found on the CD or can be downloaded from Internet under http www pco de 32 7 Servicing Maintenance and Cleaning Instructions 7 Servicing Maintenance and Cleaning Instructions Servicing Maintenance and Cleaning Instructions The camera is maintenance free Factory settings make any inspection and servicing superflu ous During use the camera should be protected from hard shocks or strong vibrations Also should the camera be protected from high humidity and temperature shocks Avoid exposing to sunlight since it heats up the camera housing u
20. cing of the image intensifier PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO 1 Installation and Powering Up 15 1 6 Powering Up Check the following points e PCl Board properly mounted e Camera Board connection via FOL properly made e Power supply connected to camera to main e Objective lens mounted e Protection cap on the lens Switch on the computer Switch the computer on but do not start yet the program CamWare Switch on the camera Switch the camera on by pressing the POWER button on the rear panel of the device Observe the operation display LED pee When properly attached the LED will flash red green for approx 3 minutes During this time the system is cooled down to a temperature of approx 12 degrees Centigrade 5 degrees o o Fahrenheit Subsequently the diode will change to permanently green in dicating that the correct operation temperature has been reached and that you can now start measuring In case the di ode shows a permanent red a hardware error has occurred Lj The following table lists possible reasons for hardware errors Possible states of the LED LED color Status red continuous Hardware error e Connection of Camera and PCI Board interrupted e Defective cable e Computer off e Temperature on CCD sensor above 65 C causing automatic camera switch off red green intermittent System ready however CCD has not yet reached its optimum temperature 11 15 C After a
21. d to neighbouring pixels Measured under Conditions A Non uniformity of a single pixel is the deviation in counts compared to the mean value of 48 neighbouring pixels 7x7 array 9 Non Uniformity in brightness compared to neighbouring pixels Measured under Conditions A or B Non uniformity of a single pixel is the deviation in compared to the mean value of 48 neighbouring pixels 7x7 array n 48 typical deviation diy gt Ia d p Po 1 1 48 with n 307 200 for VGA 640 x 480 pixels x deviation of the tested pixel with n 1 310 720 for SuperVGA 1280 x 1024 P pixel to test Pn 48 neighbouring pixels 7x7 array Conditions for measurement For all conditions the operating temperature is 15 C for VGA and 12 C for SuperVGA A exposure time 40ms B exposure time 40ms C exposure time 200 s Binning H1 V1 Binning H1 V1 Binning H1 V1 256 images averaged 256 images averaged 16 images averaged dark field conditions uniform illumination to yield 75 dark field conditions saturation about 3 000 counts PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO Dear Customer We hope this camera will be an always valuable tool for your scientific day in day out work Comments suggestions or any new idea on our system are welcome We are at your disposal at any time also after your buying of this camera Your PCO Team pco IMaeaging PCO AG Donaupark 11 D 93309 Kelheim fon 49 0 9441 2005 0 fax 49 0 9441 2005 20 eMail
22. eeeeeeeeeeeeeesneeseeeees 30 Contents PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO 6 Software Application Software CamWare sses PIUQ INS oo ceee eee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeees Software Development Kit SDK DriV rSii ischvateeiscataledaetaua nia h eaaa 7 Servicing Maintenance and Cleaning Instructions Servicing Maintenance and Cleaning Instructions 32 Cleaning Method for the Optical Part s s s 32 Cleaning Method for the FOL cececeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetees 33 8 Appendix Customer Servicen snari ne ee ees 34 Warranty sts ciscasecesctoeuserssnentaceentensegearsensidvucseapoessarteeceseuestusananes 34 CE Certification senie aieiaiei 34 Dimensions and Weight ssseseessesessieesiiessiresrrnreriresrinssrrnse 35 System Data aeiaaeeao aratai 36 Operating Instructions DiCAM PRO Version 11 2004 Subject to change without prior notice Copyright by PCO 2004 1 Installation and Powering Up 9 i i 1 Installation and Powering Up The DiCAM PRO imaging system consists of camera and PCI Board To get the system working properly follow the instruc tions 1 1 Computer System Requirements The PCl Board should be installed in a computer with following characteristics PCl Bus with PCI Chip Version 2 1 or higher Intel Processor Pentium or AMD 128 MB RAM Possible Operating Systems e Microsoft Windows 95 Version 4 00 950b or higher Microsoft Windows 98 or 98SE Windows ME Microsoft Windows NT
23. exposure window 100ns light is attenuated by a factor of 1 1000 grey filter while out of the exposure window filter is removed Thus Vor 1 2 Smear Von 1000 The CCD is set to 40ms exposure time with an uniform illumination to achieve 50 of saturation V50 Then the electronic shutter is closed readout clock is stopped charge drain is performed by the electronic shutter and the illumination is set to 500 times over exposure After 40ms the CCD is read out The measured output signal Vsm is substituted in the following formula m Vsm 400 V50 500 3 Anti Blooming The factor of over exposure allowed to avoid blooming in the neighbouring pixels 4 Point Defect Measured under Conditions A A point defect is a pixel whose signal deviates by more than 3 counts from the mean value of 48 neighbouring pixels 7x7 array Measured under Conditions B A point defect is a pixel whose signal deviates by more than 12 from the mean value of 48 neighbouring pixels 7x7 array 5 Cluster Defect Measured under Conditions A Is a group of 2 6 contiguous defective pixels 6 Column Defect Row Defect Measured under Conditions A Is a group of more than 6 contiguous defective pixels along a single column or row 7 Warm Pixel Dark Charge Measured under Conditions C A pixel is considered a warm pixel if it has an increased dark charge generation No test for FastShutter version 8 Non Uniformity in darkness compare
24. g cap Our warranty does not cover damaged optical surfaces caused by improper cleaning methods 7 Servicing Maintenance and Cleaning Instructions 33 Cleaning Method for the FOL PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO The core of the Fiber Optic Link is a 64um diameter glass fiber The connectors and the fiber itself should be cleaned only by dry dust free air Again after disconnecting replace the respective protection caps on either camera and cables immediately 34 8 Appendix PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO by Telephone by Fax by Email by Post Attention 8 Appendix Customer Service Having a problem or a question about matters not handled in these operating Instructions we recommend to contact us 09441 2005 0 09441 2005 20 support pco de PCO AG Donaupark 11 D 93309 Kelheim Germany For a quicker reply we need following information Short description of the problem Experiment conditions Settings of delay and exposure time Used camera control software and version number Camera serial number PCl Board serial number 520 or 525 Operating System Processor type of your computer Size of RAM Type of graphic board Graphic setup Warranty PCO grants warranty by law for the DiCAM PRO System cam era PCl Board FOL power supply The warranty period starts on day of delivery ex factory In case of defect within the war ranty period replacement or repair will be made at PCO s dis cret
25. ing other boards wires or chillers It is essential to use a master PCl slot Some computers re quire additional enabling of PCl slot mastering on BIOS level 1 Installation and Powering Up 11 SSS 1 2 Installation of the Hardware Driver You can operate the camera with Windows9x ME 2000 NT or Linux Installation under Windows 9x ME 2000 XP New Installation of the hardware driver If you have Windows9x ME XP or Windows 2000 installed the computer should automatically recognize the new hardware PCl Board and request you to insert a disk with the manufac turer s drivers For installation please read the actual information in the re adme ixt file on the enclosed CD Updating the hardware driver For updating an existing driver please download the newest driver version from the internet under http www pco de For installation please read the actual information in the re adme txt file which will be download automatically with the driver In case the downloaded drivers are compressed you have to decompress them with a suitable program e g ZIP program Installation under Windows NT Installation of the Hardware Driver If you install the camera under Windows NT you need the rights of the administrator Please login as administrator For installation please read the actual information in the re adme txt file on the enclosed
26. ion free of charge The device shall be returned on cus tomer s expenses to PCO preferably in the original package Image intensifiers are subject to the original manufacturer s warranty conditions PCO is not liable for consequential damages Before returning the camera contact PCO via any of the Cus tomer Services Pay attention to use a sufficient package if you have to send the camera via mail keep the original package The FOL cable connectors and the connectors of the camera and PCl Board must be protected with the protection caps Don t forget to screw the C Mount protection cap Opening of the camera or improper handling e g damage by electrostatic charge wrong cleaning method voids the war ranty CE Certification SensiCam complies with the requirements of the EMC Direc tions of the European Communities 089 336 EWG and therefore bears the CE Marking 8 Appendix 35 Dimensions and Weight Bottom plate with position of the threads to mount the camera The axis through the two threads in the middle is also the opti cal axis Front panel of the camera with position of the optical axis O 178 00 114 00 pa 52 00 gt Weight of the camera approx 7kg PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO 36 8 Appendix System Data Image Intensifier see separate data sheet specification of the image intensifier
27. is set to a minimum Since the MCP is behind the cathode changing the MCP Gain does not affect the photocathode It is a wrong con clusion to assume lower gain would save the photocath ode in an overexposed scene For a safe camera operation we recommend to start with a nearly closed iris high f stop e g 22 short exposure time and maximum gain value 100 If no image is visible or the gain not sufficient to yield an image the exposure time may be care fully increased or the iris opened step by step If the camera is not in use replace the cap in front of the lens or itensifier Operational Lifetime Values The halflife of the image intensifier time taken for a 50 de crease in sensitivity is approximately 2000 hours at a light input of 1 mlux A 10 times higher light input reduces the halflife to approx 200 hs This standard value is valid for light inputs of approx 1 mlux In the gated mode a linear correspondence of halflife and light input does not apply In this case substantially higher light inputs are allowed Contents PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO Contents 1 Installation and Powering Up 1 1 COMp TET oi i esi ncecacccccececcccsend exes ccestcncectta sccenedsecnsendtuecccetssnceuers 9 System Requirements wid Graphic Setup sa w9 Installing the PCI BOard ssssseseesesreiererieirieirriernrierene 10 1 2 Installation of the Hardware Driver cssssesssseeee 11 Installation
28. ith a short decay time Phosphor decay at the Double Trigger Mode Delay 1 Delay 2 inci Exposure 1 Soone deadline Exposure 2 Phosphor Output Phosphor Decay wince 4 aray resins _ gt CCD Integration Image 1 CCD Integration Image 2 20 2 Functional Principle General Properties PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO The CamWare program allows to extend the phosphor integra tion time by setting an appropriate value in the Camera Control window The whole unit photocathode MCP phosphor screen is a sealed high vacuum device to prevent an interaction between electrons and gas atoms In case an electron hits a gas atom an positive ion results which is accelerated towards the photo cathode There it produces undesired electrons ion feed back Often image intensifiers do have fiber optic input and output windows to facilitate an optical coupling The focal plane is transferred from the inside to the outer surface of the window At very high light inputs MCP channels tend to saturate reduc ing dramatically its intensification Furthermore a too high light input may produce a local photocathode etching or even de stroy the whole device Already too long exposure times at room lighting or short in tense laser beams even reflected ones are sufficient to yield black spots an irreparably damage Suited converter UV IR are used to shift the spectral sensitiv ity Further open
29. need administration rights After successful installation the computer has to be restarted The installation program transfers all necessary DLL and OLE files to the respective Windows checking automatically for ex isting older versions and replacing them by new ones Windows 95 carries out all registry entries If the program is to be deleted from the computer a proper de installation is carried out in START SETUP SYSTEM CONTROL SOFTWARE After successful installation you will have the new directory Digital Camera Toolbox CamWare and some additional useful tools will be installed to this directory In case you have problems during installation call our hotline see Customer Service 1 Installation and Powering Up 13 Sa ee SSS SSS 1 4 Camera and PCl Board Before Powering Up make following connections e Power from Power Supply to Camera e Serial Interface between camera and PCI Board with en closed cables For the serial data transfer between camera and PCl Board a fiber optic cable FOL is used Fiber Optic Link FOL Remove the protection caps from the camera and the PCI Board Also remove gently the small caps from either end of the cable Plug in the cable on both devices Because of the plug shape the cables cannot be mixed up The plugs should slip in easily Do not force Operating LED O PCl Interface Boa
30. ng repeated up to 256 Loops 1 256 j of the pulser Steps see below Possible settings for delay and exposure times Following there is an overview of the possible settings for delay and exposure times Trigger 1ns steps 5ns steps 20ns steps ius steps elay 0 50ns 100ns 1000ms 1000s See table below Exposu re 10ns steps 20ns steps ius steps 3 30ns 100ns 1000ms 1000s depending of the pulser pulser type fixed exposure times in ns a eee HVP3X 3 3 10 20 25 30 HVP3X 5 5 10 20 25 30 HVP3X 20 20 25 30 PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO 3 Timing 23 System Delay In addition to the selected delay and exposure times there is a system delay time and a pulser delay time They are defined by the system itself and cannot be changed when delay and exposure time each lt 100ns 25ns 0 25ns when delay or exposure time gt 100ns 25ns 2ns e Del Exp Time Delay Jooooon ms e 000780 ns Exposure Jooooca ms Intensifier Timing CCD Timing f Internal Trigger auto External Trigger external Pulser Delay A oo Ins HVP3x at lt 20ns 20ns p HVP3x at gt 20 ns 60ns Loops 1 256 fi e e a Loop 1 256 e e e e System Delay Pulser Delay Delay Exposure Exposure Time of the CCD Phosphor Decay Time CCD Readout r Mode Single Trigger G auto C extern PCO 2004
31. nnecessarily and prevents the cooling from reaching its optimum operating temperature Keep apertures and slots free to allow air to circulate Objective lens or lens adapter should be screwed in gently Avoid forcing as it will damage the tread Use a soft and dry cloth to clean the housing Cleaning Method for the Optical Part PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO Hint In principle every cleaning method bears the danger of damag ing an optical surface Therefore clean only if it is strictly necessary As a first step use dry air to blow out dust particles Avoid strictly to wipe on a dry glass surface In case dirt cannot be removed by blowing use special optical cleaning fluids Adequate fluids for optical surfaces are pure dehydrogenated alcohol pure acetone or cleaning fluids avail able in photo shops Use a soaked cotton tip and take care to wipe only on glass surfaces avoiding contact to metal surfaces e g C Mount thread otherwise microscopic dirt and metallic chips are released causing irreparable scratches on the glass surface Never use aggressive cleaning substances e g benzine spirit nitro solvents etc commonly found in labs Such substances may destroy or damage the surface on which they are applied The best is to avoid any dirt on optical parts e g by replacing immediately the black protection cap when removing the objec tive lens Do not leave the camera s optical input window open without lens or protectin
32. r worn out When water or other liquids have soaked into the device When the device is not properly working although you fol lowed all instructions of the user s manual When the camera fell to the floor or the housing has been damaged When the device shows apparent deviations of normal operation PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO Safety Instructions PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO Note Safety Instructions for safety use with Image Intensifiers The camera contains a higly sensitive image intensifier running on voltages of a few kV To avoid damages or loss of quality the camera should not be operated with a too high light input The photocathodes s lifetime and its loss of sensitivity depends directly on the amount of light impinging on it A few milisec onds or even microseconds may be sufficient to damage the photocathode if the light source is powerful enough The photo cathode is a thin layer of chemical substances transforming photons in photoelectrons which is eroded every time light strikes it while the photocathode is on In extreme cases the layer is completely wore off and where it happens a black spot appears The photocathode is now blind and there is no rem edy Bright light sources e g lamps or daylight for example while adjusting or focusing the camera in a non gated opera tion mode can permanently damage the photocathode even when a monitor does not show any picture when for instance the MCP Gain
33. rd Camera Caution Avoid kinking or bending it over a sharp edge e g stepping on it while over a threshold This will break the core and destroy the cable Further avoid touching the ends with bare fingers and replace the caps on either the cable or camera board to pro tect the sensitive optical surfaces from dust The small protection caps will be lost easily Keep the caps on a safe place PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO 14 1 Installation and Powering Up 1 5 Lens Mount Lens Mount When unpacking the DiCAM PRO a lens adapter for Nikon lenses F Mount is included It is already mounted on the cam era This adapter is fixed with three small Allen screws It can be dismounted easily You may also use customized adapters taking care for the correct back focal length Remark C Mount lenses are not recommended in combination with 25mm intensifiers because the photocathode will not be used completely IKON Acdapter Auflagema8 46 5mm C Mount Adapter M42 Adapter Auflagema8 17 53mm 10 00 p 4 50 2 50 C Mount FIBER OPTIK GLAS INPUT l Focus Ebene LAR 7 x oO f A EI Fiber Optik Focus Ebene Glos No 7 Image input g glass Intensifier window DEP 5 55 0 2 DEP 6 0 0 1 Hamamatsu 5 540 4 Hamamatsu 5 9 1 0 DEP Hamamatsu Front plate with pla
34. tput signal low means the camera is busy an output signal high means the cameras is ready to accept a new trigger signal Function 2 STORE Signal Control Output high active STORE signals the data transfer from the camera to the PCI Board 30 5 Control Signals LEDs at the PCI Board G O TRIG IN H PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO There are two LEDs at the metal holder of the PCl Board Green LED Control LED is lighting when connection between camera and PCl Board is correct When the LED is off there could be the following reasons e Cable is not or wrong connected When using a coaxial cables the Tx must be connected to Rx and Rx to Tx e Cable defective Red LED This LED signals the DMA data transfer via the PCI Bus from the PCl Board memory to the computer RAM 6 Software 31 Application Software Plug Ins Software Development Kit Drivers PCO 2004 DiCAM PRO 6 Software Shipment of the camera system includes the CamWare soft ware a complete operation software for the camera allowing to display and to save images For detailed information to CamWare please see the separate manual CamWare In case you are already working with an image processing or image analysis software appropriate Plug Ins may be installed Consequently camera control commands can be sent directly from the image analysis software e OPTIMAS version 6 1 and higher Medi
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