PC-RGB is a high performance low-cost PCI-bus image capture board supplying the industry's fastest color or monochrome video data transfer to host computer memory. PC-RGB combines a high performance frame grabber, 4MB of onboard memory to speed image transfers, unique onboard circuitry for precise interrupt control, OPTO-22 compatible digital I/O for controlling external events, and support for a wide range of cameras.

PC-RGB can acquire monochrome (up to 3 simultaneous input channels with 6 total inputs) or RGB color data (2 RGB channels) from RS-170, CCIR, progressive scan, and variable scan cameras. Data is stored in onboard frame memory in one of the following available formats: 8-bit, any R,G,or B channel; 16-bit, converts 24-bit RGB to 16-bit YCrCb; 24-bit packed; 32-bit, RGBa or aRGB; or 32-bit planar mode, separates each 8-bit channel.

PC-RGB uses a special hardware scatter gather technique to provide continuous high-speed image transfers across the PCI-bus at rates up to 120MB/sec sustained with almost no host CPU involvement.

PC-RGB can transfer images and selected Areas of Interest (AOIs, up to 4K x 4K) out of memory and at full speed without the need to write any special code. Additionally, onboard pixel packing circuitry enables nondestructive graphic overlays, such as annotation, windows, and cross-hairs on live images. PC-RGB provides additional advanced features including padding (sending 8-bit data to a 16-bit VGA color surface), clipping (allowing data to be bus mastered directly to a VGA target without seeing "color dots" - Windows reserved values), and programmable X/Y zooming (x2, x4).

PC-RGB provides users with a deterministic response to interrupts through a combination of special onboard timing circuitry and Coreco Imaging's VIXN (Virtual Interrupt eXtensioN) software. When used together, industrial machine vision users can be guaranteed precise control of interrupts within Windows NT and can use the PC-RGB to control I/O lines that would have traditionally required a programmable controller (PLC).

Key features

• PCI-bus moves images to the host PC in less than 4 ms, providing an additional 29 ms of free processing time
• Hardware scatter gather bus mastering feature for high-speed simultaneous grab and transfer to the host with minimal CPU involvement
• Image modification on transfer to host memory with no additional CPU involvement (flip, rotate, zoom, etc.)
• Image deinterlacing on image transfers with no CPU involvement
• Supports programmable OPTO-22 compatible I/O, trigger, strobe, and frame reset for developers with "real world" applications and demanding cycle times
• DMA of Areas of Interest (AOIs) minimize transfer times

Video Formats

• Color - Up to 2 RGB inputs
• Monochrome - 2 sets of 3 synchronous RS-170, CCIR, progressive & variable scan cameras

Imaging Foundation Classes (IFC):

The IFC software library delivers maximum control and performance of the hardware. Software routines include:

• Board configuration
• Ability to access frame and overlay memory as Pixels, Lines, and Areas
• Setup acquisition control
• Setup display control
• Setup and draw overlay graphics
  IFC for the PC-RGB is supported under Win95/98 or WinNT 4.0/2000. IFC works with the industry's most popular software environments. Development using Microsoft® Visual C++ are fully supported.

High-Level API Software:

The PC-RGB has a set of high-level software programs to speed development of complicated applications including:

• "Ping-Pong" buffering
• VCR mode
• Large image acquisition
• Image abstractions
• Interrupt API

Datasheet: see PC-RGB specs
Engineering Specifications

Specifications:
 

Application Notes:
How to get started with the PC-RGB
 

Software supported
Camera Configurator - Windows application for easy board and camera set-up
Imaging Studio- Machine Vision Software Library
MVTools™- Complete run-time library (DLL) of highly robust machine vision tools for OEMs

Cameras supported
See complete support list