Q+A CENTER

The latest computers are transitioning to the PCI Express bus to increase bus bandwidth, reduce the pin count of chip sets, reduce power, reduce space and reduce cost. Machine vision is moving into lower-cost markets which require higher resolution cameras and lower-cost systems. New machine vision products from EPIX are low cost PCI Express bus camera link frame grabbers, and low cost camera systems including frame grabber, cable and software.

Express Frame Grabbers

• PIXCI E4 supports up to 700 megabytes per second sustained data rates to the express bus.
• PIXCI E1 and EL1 support up to 204 megabytes per second sustained data rates to the express bus.

These frame grabbers provide Camera Link support for one base, medium or full camera and support dual base cameras. The PCI Express bus is the replacement bus for the PCI bus. New motherboards have a mix of Express slots and PCI slots. This will shift to Express only slots as chip sets drop support for the slower and higher pin count PCI bus. The E1 and E4 low power boards use less than 170 milliamps from the 3.3 volt supply and support hundreds of camera link cameras. The EL1 uses less than 150 milliamps from the 3.3 volt supply. The PIXCI E1 or EL1 plug into an x1, or wider Express slot, while the PIXCI E4 plugs into an x4 or wider slot. In development are Camera Link frame grabbers that support more than four cameras for OEM applications.

Silicon Video Cameras

• SILICON VIDEO 9M001M with 1280 x 1024 at 10 bits per pixel at 30 frames per second.
• SILICON VIDEO 9T001C with 2048 x 1536 at 10 bits per pixel at 12 frames per second.
• SILICON VIDEO 642M or 642C with 640 x 480 at 10 bits per pixel at 204 frames per second.

The SILICON VIDEO camera systems include a PIXCI SI frame grabber and RJ45 cable that provides power, and control to the camera, and sends images to the PIXCI SI. A separate power supply is not required. The included XCAP-Lite imaging program captures video to disk and supports up to eight SILICON VIDEO cameras in one computer. The SILICON VIDEO camera systems support triggered capture and provide an output to fire a strobe. These camera systems are designed for OEM applications and feature a rugged, milled aluminum case. In development are PIXCI SI frame grabbers that support 4 cameras for OEM applications, higher speed cameras and higher resolution cameras.

EPIX’ programmer libraries and ready to run software support all frame grabbers and camera systems. Our software is in constant development to support new operating systems, such as Linux, and to support new releases and capabilities of the Windows operating systems.

EPIX, Inc.
381 Lexington Drive
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089
Phone: (847) 465-1818
Fax: (847) 465-1919
www.epixinc.com