Configuring Camera and Firmware

To configure camera and firmware for using action commands:

  1. Start microDisplay X.
    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. Go to the Cameras tab.
  3. Select the camera you want to configure for using action commands.
  4. Go to the Action Commands tab.
    If the Action Commands tab is disabled, the selected camera doesn't support action commands.

  1. Under Firmware - Configuration (bottom part of viewing pane), disable option Enable Action Commands:

The upper part of the viewing pane allows you to enter the settings for the camera. The lower part of the viewing pane allows you to enter the settings for the firmware.

For each camera, exactly 1 dedicated action command is implemented in the frame grabber firmware. (The camera, however, may offer more than one action command, depending on camera manufacturer and model. The camera in our example (screenshots) offers two action commands, Action Signal #0 and Action Signal #1).

  1. Enter the device key for the camera:

  1. Click the Apply button if it is active.
  2. Enter group key and group mask for the camera. Double-click on the field for editing:

  1. Enter device key, group key and group mask for the firmware.
    Make sure you use exactly the same values you use for the camera. Otherwise, action commands will not be acknowledged by the camera.

  1. Click the Apply button if it is active.

Actual Values of no Relevance as long as Configuration of Firmware and Camera match for each Channel

 

Since we use a 1:1 connection between frame grabber firmware and camera, the actual values are of no importance. Therefore, all cameras can use the same device key as they are not connected via a network.

   
  1. Optional: Optionally, you can define a time out threshold (tolerated time gap between the moment the firmware is sending an action command and the moment it is receiving an acknowledge from the camera).
    The default timeout is 250.000.000 ticks [1 tick = 16 ns]. This is 4 seconds.

Click the Apply button if it is active.

 

  1. Under Firmware - Configuration, activate option Enable Action Commands:

  1. Repeat steps 4 to 12 for each connected camera.