18 May 2006 (Boca Raton, Fla.) -- High-performance camera manufacturer Imperx introduced two software utilities at this year’s Vision East show. Both utilities give users access to powerful capabilities built into the company’s Camera Link and GigE Lynx smart cameras, but previously used only at the factory during camera final testing.
The FFC Processor utility is a stand-alone program that allows users to create their own Flat Field Correction (FFC) files. The camera uses these files to correct for variations of image brightness due to optical effects, such as vignetting, as well as pixel-to-pixel sensitivity variations inherent in the camera’s CCD. While the FFC files produced at the factory during final test allow the camera to correct the CCD output under test conditions, they cannot fully correct optical effects appearing under other lens, illumination, or environmental conditions, or any sensitivity variations that arise as the CCDs age. With the FFC Processor utility, power users can create FFC files to correct their CCDs under actual-use conditions.
The DPC Processor utility allows users to create their own Defective Pixel Map (DPM) files. The camera uses these files to correct extreme sensitivity variations – so extreme as to classify the pixels as “defective” – that appear in only a few pixels scattered over multi-megapixel CCDs. As with FFC files, the factory creates DPM files using criteria appropriate for the majority of applications, but which may not be ideal for certain applications. The DPC Processor utility gives power users the ability to create their own DPM files based on their own criteria.
