Figure 1: Auxiliary connector located at back of camera
The DB-9 connector on the MV-1000 board can accept external pixel clock, H.D. and V.D. from the camera. When the MV-1000 accepts these signals from a camera. When the MV-1000 accepts these signals from a camera, the phase locked loop circuitry on the MV-1000 has to synchronize with these external signals and not to the internal synchronization signals (like H.Sync.) that are usually used. To achieve this end, certain relevant changes have to be made to the camera configuration file.
Cable connections
The red cable of the VC-7 Mutech cable is connected to the video output of the camera. The blue, gray, and black cables correspond to pins on the DB-9 connector that accept external pixel clock, H.D. and V.D. respectively. Therefore a cable needs to be made to connect pin #2 of auxiliary connector to the blue cable of the VC-7 and, pin 5 and 6 (of auxiliary connector) are connected to the black and gray cables of the VC-7, respectively. Since the camera is being operated in "Mode B, Dual Field" pin 3 of auxiliary connector needs to be connected to ground (refer camera User's guide, sec 4.4.2, page 4-4). Users may change the cable to suite each mode of operation of the camera. Pin #1 of auxiliary connector is also connected to ground as per the pin specifications in the Camera User's guide.
To enable the various cables on the VC-7 to accept the external signals described above, the following jumpers on the MV-1000 need to be set as follows (refer MV-1000 User's guide, Technical Reference Section, sub section Acquisition Circuitry, page 2.3).
| JP9=OUT | JP10=OUT | JP11=OUT |
| JP12=IN | JP13=IN | JP14=IN |
| JP17=IN | JP18=IN | JP20=IN |
Camera Configuration Files
From a software point of view, the concept of video acquisition from standard or non-standard cameras is based on the use of a Camera Configuration File. Camera "Config" files are ASCII files that hold all of the values relevant to the proper usage of a particular camera with the MV-1000.
Camera Configuration files for most commercially available cameras are included on a Mutech distribution diskette and by default are loaded into the directory ..\mv-1000\camcfg. All Mutech distribution software uses these Camera Config Files to set the board and chip registers into the correct state to work with a particular camera.
To interface the camera using external pixel, H.D. and V.D., certain changes need to be made to the original RS170.ini file.
[Analog Video Conditioning]
External_Sync_Input = 1 (indicates that external sync. input is used)
External_CSync_Input = 0 (indicates that separate H & V inputs are used)
External_Clock = 1
[PLL Control]
Clock_Reference_Select = 2 (to select external pixel clock)
Pixel_Clock_Freq = 21.47 (from camera specifications)
Users can set their own maximum capture sizes and offsets as per their specific requirements. This new .ini file was called MC1134P.ini.
DOS Utility - "Camtest.exe"
The easiest way to verify proper functioning of the MULTICAM(TM) MC-1134P camera with the MV-1000 is through the DOS testing program "Camtest.exe". This program is included in the distribution diskette and is contained in the subdirectory "diag" under directory MV-1000.
To use Camtest.exe with the MULTICAM(TM) MC-1134P camera in Mode B, dual field ...
"camtest.exe ..\camcfg/mc1134p.ini" at the DOS prompt. This assumes that the camtest program is in the ..\diag directory and .ini files are in the ..\camcfg directory.
MuTech Corp. July 1996
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