Initial System Test

To test if your installation is working, proceed the following steps:

  1. Start microDisplay on your host PC.
    You find microDisplayX.exe in your Silicon Software runtime installation directory, sub-directory bin,
    for example: C:\Program Files\SiliconSoftware\Runtime5.7.0\bin\microDisplayX.exe.
  2. Select the frame grabber you want to work with from the list in the left upper corner. A tool tip provides you with additional information on the frame grabber:



    Click on the frame grabber of your choice.
    Immediately, a list of applets is displayed in the pane below.



  1. Select an applet out of the applets list.

    A tool tip provides you with additional information on each applet:

    • The applet name displayed in bold is the applet that is currently active on the frame grabber (only mE5 marathon, mE5 ironman and LightBridge 2).
    • The applets displayed in black are the applets currently available for the selected frame grabber.
    • The applets displayed in gray are currently not available for the selected frame grabber.

Applet-Camera Match

 

The applet you select needs to correspond to the connected camera/cameras (number of connected cameras per frame grabber board, area or line scan, Gray, RGB, or Bayer, etc.).

   
  1. Double-click on the applet name to load the applet.

    The applet is loaded. The acquisition processes of the applet (together with the respective camera and DMA ports) are displayed in the left-hand pane, and the DMA outputs are visible in the viewing pane (tab Acquisition Channel):


Display per applet process: For each process defined in the applet, an according acquisition process with camera IN port(s) (Cam 0, Cam 1, ...) and DMA OUT port(s) (DMA 0, DMA 1, ...) is displayed.

The mouse over on a DMA line (left-hand panel) informs you about the most important applet features and settings: 

  1. Make sure your cameras are connected and detected. A detected camera (image source) is marked green:


    If no camera is detected, stop and restart the SiSo Generic Service (local service) (as administrator). Deactivate the Windows Fast Startup option as described in How to Turn off Windows Fast Startup.

 

Instead of a camera, you can use the Camera Simulator as image source if you have no camera at hand. The camera simulator provides the frame grabber with test images.

 

To start image acquisition:

  1. Click on the DMA line of the process you want to start. The corresponding DMA output display pane (tab Acquisition Channel) becomes active:



  2. Click the Grab button to start acquisition.
    If your system is correctly installed, the grabbed images are displayed in the corresponding DMA output display pane:



  3. Use the Stop button to stop acquisition.

 

If necessary, you can configure applet and camera for the test:

  1. To configure the applet, click on the DMA line. Set the applet parameters in the pane below:


    Double-click or right-click on a parameter/value to get the list of available values or an input field.

Parameter Details

 

You can always get the details of a parameter (name, access rights, current value, data type, value range, description) in the bottom part of the Parameter Selection window.

To get additional information (e.g., code examples for reading and writing via API):

  1. Click the Details button.

   
  1. To configure the camera parameters for a first system test, click on the Cam line. Set the camera parameters in the pane below:

To see all available parameters, set Visibility to Guru.

Alternatively, you can configure the camera settings as described in section Silicon Software GenICam Interface.

Adjust Image Dimensions in Applet and Camera Settings

 

To avoid random data at the margins of the acquired images (marked red in the DMA output display pane), make sure the applet settings for frame width and height match the camera settings for frame width and height.