Computer Configuration and Troubleshooting
Contents
1. PHOTOMETRICS Technical Note HIGH PERFORMANCE EMCCD amp CCD CAMERAS FOR LIFE SCIENCES Computer Configuration and Troubleshooting Guidelines for Photometrics Cameras This tech note outlines known good practices which are likely to and other unwanted imaging errors In order to overcome these improve camera performance Photometrics scientific cameras are real performance hurdles certain settings must be adjusted to ensure time streaming devices which compete with other computer devices real time device performance is not hindered for system resources The recent environmentally conscious efforts by hardware and software manufacturers have improved power efficiency Windows Vista and Windows 7 offer advanced control over your in newer computers with the consequence of limiting performance of computer power options You can ensure maximum real time image the CPU and PCl express bus This means that during acquisitions streaming performance occurs throughout your image acquisitions your CPU will be constantly changing its speed and hence by using the recommended power settings below See Appendix for performance In turn this leads to image artifacts camera timeouts visual guide on how to access advanced power options Windows allows some control over CPU speed throttling which affects real time image acquisition in the same way as SpeedStep does producing corrupt images due to random speed changes during the acquisitions The proces2. d Modem Programs and Features Recovery I RemoteApp and Desktop Connections Sound Sync Center jE System i Troubleshooting amp User Accounts b d Windows Defender 2 Windows Firewall 2 Power Options 9 Region and Language Speech Recognition L Taskbar and Start Menu E Windows CardSpace Windows Update Additional settings Require a password on wakeup Setting Yes Hard disk Wireless Adapter Settings Sleep USB settings Power buttons and lid PCI Express Processor nower mananement BREA Restore plan defaults X PHOTOMETRICS USA 520 889 9933 Asia Pacific 65 6841 2094 France 33 1 60 86 03 65 Germany 49 89 660 779 3 www photometrics com info photometrics com Rev AO 2010 Photometrics All rights reserved 3
3. ecially Intel Core i3 5 7 systems has enabled CPU speed throttling and power saving by default called SpeedStep and C State These settings do not allow for stable real time image acquisition because the speed of the CPU is constantly changing Follow the suggested settings below to ensure maximum performance Note please consult with your computer motherboard operating manual or boot screen for instructions about how to access settings in the BIOS Disable Intel SpeedStep amp CPU C State Some BIOS menus have grouped these settings into more generally named options set these sorts of power savings options to maximum power least savings if there is any doubt Disable or toggle to maximum power all power management savings settings related to CPU speed SpeedStep throttling dynamic performance PCI PCl express bus Disable unused onboard devices e Modern computer motherboards contain many built in devices including FireWire controllers WiFi and BlueTooth These devices use resources even while not in use if they are enabled in the BIOS Please manually disable any devices which are not utilized regularly Built in FireWire controllers are not supported by Photometrics Use the provided FireWire card included with the camera Last resort measures may be necessary if the aforementioned efforts do not remediate the imaging problems you re having This can be indicative of othe
4. r hardware competition for real time resources in your computer As a last resort you should try the following e Disable onboard sound card typically an option in the computer BIOS e Uninstall any software that is not required in the same system such as multimedia programs which constantly run in the background e Avoid using Gigabit Ethernet cards 1000Mbps unless absolutely necessary Replace with a 10 100 Mbps Ethernet card if possible e If using a FireWire camera and you encounter many dropped frames use the Thesycon latency check tool Found here http www thesycon com eng latency_check shtml to check for high yellow or red bars These bars indicate heavy competition between streaming real time devices which puts a damper on all streaming performance Computer Configuration and Troubleshooting Guidelines Technical Note Appendix How to change power settings in Windows Vista 7 1 Open the Control Panel 3 Click Change plan settings for the active power setting you are using 2 Open the Power Options Change settings for the plan Balanced Choose the sleep and display settings that you want your computer to use Put the computer to sleep For Windows Vista On the left sidebar click Classic View Then find Power Options in the main set of options and open it 2 Turn off the display Change advanced power settings Reig gt Control Pane o Restore default settings for this plan Name Catego
5. ry Control Panel Home e Classic View t amp Add Administrat Hardware Tools Color Management a A a Folder Fonts Game Options Controllers LL P amp Mouse Networkand Offline Files Sharing Ce 3 Phone and Power Modem Options oe Programs Regional and Scannersand Security Sound and Features Language Cameras Center Backup and BitLocker Restore C Drive En D Click Change advanced power settings Default Programs e amp Internet iSCSI Initiator Keyboard Options jm Penand People Near Performance Personaliz Input Devices Me Informatio YW a Problem Reports a Device Manager Indexing Options Parental Controls Printers 8 Speech Recogniti e J r lf Search E Ore Control Panel Power Options Require a password on wakeup Selecta power plan Choose what the power knk da Power plans can help you maximize your computer s performance or conserve energy Make a plan active by selecting it or choose a plan and customize it by changing its power settings Tell me more about power plans Create a power plan IO Choose when to turn off the display Preferred plans Balanced Change plan settings Energy savings 999 amp Change when the computer Performance 999 sleeps Power saver Change plan settings Energy savings 000 Performance 99 High performance Change plan settings Energy saving
6. s 99 Performance 0000 For Windows 7 At the top right portion of the Control Panel screen there is an option named View by Change this option from Category to Small or Large Icons Then find Power Options and open it See also Personalization User Accounts 5 Adjust these advanced power options per the recommendations in the Windows Vista and Windows 7 section bca E gt Control Panel All Control Panel Items gt v gt Adjust your computer s settings View by Small icons Category Large icons Small icons i r Action Center Administrative Tools E AutoPlay Power Options E x Backup and Restore M BitLocker Drive Encryption A Color Manageme p ry g Advanced settings E Credential Manager Date and Time Default Programs Desktop Gadgets Device Manager Devices and Printers g e Ai a 3 jas gt Select the power plan that you want to customize and Display Ease of Access Center E Folder Options B then choose settings that reflect how you want your IH Fonts E Getting Started 8 HomeGroup computer to manage power Indexing Options Internet Options Keyboard Ca Change settings that are currently unavailable Location and Other Sensors P Mouse E Network and Sharing Center Balanced Active Performance Information and Tools Notification Area Icons B Parental Controls a Personalization H Phone an
7. sor options should instead be set to run at the maximum speed In the advanced power options find and set e Processor power management Minimum processor state Setting 100 Maximum processor state Setting 100 Wireless LAN devices frequently search for nearby access points which causes hiccups for all real time devices Enabling power saving on wireless LAN is proven to reduce the impact of this polling In the advanced power options find and set e Wireless Power Saving Mode Setting Maximum Power Saving Windows tries to determine which USB devices are not actively in use and temporarily suspends them This can cause performance degradation for USB cameras and USB storage devices which a user may use for storing images In the advanced power options find and set e USB settings USB selective suspend setting Setting Disabled Photometrics provides PCl express interface cards for their cameras In order to ensure the camera can achieve the full bandwidth required the PCl express bus must not be throttled In the advanced power options find and set e PCI Express Link State Power Management Setting Off Computer Configuration and Troubleshooting Guidelines Technical Note If after using these recommended Windows settings your images still appear incorrectly your computer is likely still enforcing other power savings options located in the BIOS The BIOS on most modern motherboards esp
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