Knowledgebase Camera Link - the most direct connection to the image
The Camera Link interface is ideal for particularly demanding engineers. It starts directly behind the A/D converter process and thus enables direct access to the image data of the sensor. Time and content influences of the camera on your images are reduced to a minimum with this standard.
Classical High-Speed
The LVDS signals (Low Voltage Differential Signals) in the Camera Link cables are less susceptible to EMC influences, but require a special frame grabber on the computer (PC). With the Camera Link Full (80 bit) standard, data rates of up to 850 MByte/s (gross) are possible.
SVCam series with Camera Link Interface
Among our SVCam industrial cameras you will find many different models with Camera Link interface. Use our Camera Finder to find the optimal camera for your application:
SVCam models with Camera Link interface (20)History of Camera Link
The standard was first published by the AIA in 2000. With the first revision in 2004, Camera Link 1.1, the GenICam data standard was integrated so that Camera Link-certified devices can be addressed by any suitable software. GenICam is supported by all SVS-Vistek cameras.
With Camera Link version 1.2 from 2007, additional functions were integrated by the AIA. Among them also Power-over-Camera Link (PoCL). With this and increasing data rates (from Base to Medium to HS/Deca), the demands on the grabbers increased. With EURESYS, SVS-Vistek has found an innovative partner who gets every pixel out of our cameras for you and doubles the cable lengths of the standard with up to 30 meters compared to the specification with its technology ECCO+.
Currently, Camera Link is in version 2.0 and offers much smaller connectors, Mini Camera Link.
Die Technik hinter Camera Link
Camera Link is an interface that transmits your data using LVDS (Low-Voltage Differential Signal). The information coming from the sensor is sent via the Camera Link cable in the order in which it was generated. To protect the bit stream from external influences, the signals are sent to the framegrabber in mirrored form. Since interfering electromagnetic influences (EMC) on the signal always have an additive or subtractive effect on both lines at the same time, the difference between the two transmitted signals always remains the same.
In addition to the data signals, Camera Link also sends a clock signal for the temporally correct reconstruction of the data in the grabber. Reconstruction of damaged or lost data (comparable to GigE Vision) is not provided for with Camera Link.
Camera Link Datenraten
The data rates of Camera Link systems are primarily the result of an interaction between sensor and standard. The sensor clock determines the clock rate of the Camera Link interface. The data rate is limited by the clock and the number of parallel lines of the cable. Already Camera Link Medium allows to double the number of lines with a second cable.
The following Camera Link variants (in ascending speed) are available:
- CL Base (24 bit/Takt)
- CL Medium (48 bit/Takt)
- CL Full (bis zu 64 bit/Takt)
- CL Deca (80 bit/Takt)
Starting from the middle configuration, two cables are required for image processing.
Die Möglichkeiten von CL
Camera Link does not place great demands on the camera's chipset. Camera Link cameras are often characterized by lower power dissipation.
Beyond the pure data stream of the sensor, SVS-Vistek offers for Camera Link cameras the possibility to perform minor image corrections (hot pixel, etc.) directly in the camera.
Camera Link interfaces and cables
The standard cable has 26 cores. Two of them each carry an LVDS (twisted pair) signal, sync and camera control signals.
According to the Camera Link specifications, each pair must be shielded within the cable. In addition, the AIA requires double EMC shielding of the entire cable.
For power supply via Camera Link, 2 additional cores are required.
Cable lengths of 15 meters are possible with Camera Link. By using high-quality components such as frame grabbers and special shielded cables, the distances into the field can be further increased. For example, SVS-Vistek offers the Grablink Full XR series from Euresys, a frame grabber that can double the cable lengths of the AIA specification and thus increase them to up to 30 meters.
