Sequential Shutter function

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Introduction

Sequential Shutter is a function that captures images under multiple shooting conditions.
You can switch settings such as exposure time, gain, and image offset in a pre-set sequence for every image.

Camera Function Usage
[Example 1]
[Example 2]
[Application Example]

Camera Function Usage

The three examples below use the following camera function registers:

SequentialShutterControl
Scalable (ROI)
Gain
ExposureControl
UserSetControl

* Please refer to the camera instruction manual for details on each function.

[Example 1] Capture images with different ROI positions, gain, and exposure time

Here is an example of four images captured by Sequential shutter function, changing the window position, gain, and exposure time for each image repeatedly.

Figure 1: Sequential Shutter Setting Example 1

In example 1, the settings for each frame are as follows:

Register Setting Table 1
Frame Number	Gain	Exposure Time (ExposureControl)	ROI Position (Scalable)
Frame 1	0dB	2ms	(Lower left)
Frame 2	+6dB	2ms	(Top center)
Frame 3	0dB	1ms	(Right center)
Frame 4	+3dB	2ms	(Top left)

Table 1: Register Setting Example

* ROI read position is specified in Width, Height, OffsetX, and OffsetY registers of the Scalable function.

The register settings can be saved in the camera's memory banks. The memory banks use the "UserSetControl" function.
In example 1, the settings are saved as follows:

Setting data for frame 1 = Memory Bank 1
Setting data for frame 2 = Memory Bank 9
Setting data for frame 3 = Memory Bank 5
Setting data for frame 4 = Memory Bank 15

After setting up, the image will be automatically output according to the set conditions by inputting a trigger.

[Example 2] Image capture with different gain and exposure time

Here is an example to capture continuous images while changing capture brightness by Sequential shutter function.
When capturing the three images, gain and exposure time are changed for each frame.

Figure 4: Sequential Shutter Setting Example 2

In example 2, the settings for each frame are as follows:

Register Setting Table 2
Frame Number	Gain	Exposure Time (ExposureControl)
Frame 1	+0.5dB	0.7ms
Frame 2	+3dB	0.7ms
Frame 3	+8dB	0.3ms

Table 2: Register Setting Example

In example 2, the settings are saved as follows:

Setting data for frame 1 = Memory Bank 1
Setting data for frame 2 = Memory Bank 2
Setting data for frame 3 = Memory Bank 3

After setting the trigger, input the trigger three times and check the output image signal for three frames.
The image with the optimum brightness was the second frame.

Figure 5: Acquiring an image with optimal brightness

[Application Example] Combination of Sequential shutter and Bulk trigger

There is "bulk trigger" mode that is compatible with Sequential shutter.
Bulk trigger is one of the trigger functions, and a single external trigger signal input causes multiple exposures and image output in succession.

Figure 6: Example of shooting with bulk trigger set to 3 times

Here is an example of taking two frames of images with different exposure times.

Figure 7: Capturing two frames of images

In application example, the settings are saved as follows:

Register Setting Table 3
Frame Number	Exposure Time (ExposureControl)
Frame 1	20ms
Frame 2	2ms

Table 3: Register Setting Example

In application example, the settings are saved as follows:

Setting data for frame 1 = Memory Bank 1
Setting data for frame 2 = Memory Bank 2
Setting data for frame 3 = Memory Bank 3

After setting up, simply inputting the trigger once will output two frames of video captured continuously.

The first frame is shot with a long exposure time, so the subject is captured brightly.
The second frame is shot with a short exposure time, allowing areas that are prone to whiteout to be captured clearly.
This shooting method is effective for inspecting components on circuit boards and for capturing chipped silk screen text.