# Settings for the color camera

Aim

To make sure that the tracking of color markers in EthoVision XT is optimized.

This topic applies to the Basler color cameras acA1300-60gc and acA1920-40gc. Note that the Basler acA1300-60gc is no longer officially supported and therefore not tested by Noldus.

Prerequisites

You have installed the camera, its driver software and EthoVision XT. See Install GigE cameras

Settings in pylon Viewer

The procedure below refers to the options available in the camera software. Most of the options are also available in EthoVision XT. See Adjust camera settings in EthoVision XT

1.Close EthoVision XT and open pylon Viewer.

note The Basler pylon Viewer software is installed automatically when you install the camera drivers.

2.From the Window menu select Features - All.

3.In the Devices panel, double-click the item Basler under GigE.

4.Open the item Image Format Control. Next to Pixel Format select:

▪YUV 422 Packed for the camera acA1300-60gc. Note that this camera has not been tested with EthoVision XT 19.

▪Bayer RG 8 for the camera acA1920-40gc.

5.Click Color Improvements Control.

6.Click the Continuous Shot button on the tool bar to view the live image.

7.Point the camera at a piece of white paper, so that the camera image is entirely white. Click in the field next to Balance White Auto and select Once from the list.

8.To save the settings, see Save the camera settings.

9.Close pylon Viewer and open EthoVision XT.

10.Open your experiment and in the Experiment Settings select Live tracking and the color camera.

11.Click the camera button and then in the window that appears click the Format tab. Choose the video resolution and frame rate.

12.Next to Color space select:

▪For the camera acA1300-60gc, UYVY or YUV.

▪For the camera acA1920-40gc, BYRG. If the image stays black and white, select UYVY or YUV, then select BYRG again.

13.Select the resolution and frame rate. See what has been tested for the Basler acA1920-40gc.

14.Check the Current frame rate. If this is significantly lower than the rate you set, choose a lower resolution.

Settings for low light conditions

When tracking animals in low light, you can adjust the camera settings in such a way that the colors are more apparent. The settings below apply to the camera acA1920-40gc.

In pylon Viewer, do the following:

1.Under Analog Controls, set Gain to for example 240 or higher if necessary.

2.Next to Gamma Selector, choose User.

3.Next to Gamma, choose 1.0.

4.Increase the Digital Shift for example to 1 or higher if necessary.

5.Under Acquisition Controls, set Exposure Time to for example 20000 µs. A higher value is not recommended.

For adjusting a specific color (usually not necessary if the white balance has been done correctly):

▪Next to Color adjust enable, select the option.

▪Next to Color Adjust Saturation, adjust color saturation (per color).

Color to monochrome

If you have a color digital camera, you can temporarily change it to monochrome.

▪For Basler cameras: see Change color to monochrome

note This does not make your color camera infrared-sensitive. For that, you must either remove the infrared block filter (see below) from your color camera or use a monochrome GigE camera.

tip Basler cameras have model numbers like this: acA1300-60xx, where

▪xx = gm means monochrome.

▪xx = gmNIR means Near Infrared, that is, monochrome with extra sensitivity to infrared light.

▪xx = gc means color.

Color to infrared-sensitive

Most color cameras are not infrared-sensitive. To make them more infrared (IR)-sensitive:

1.Set them to monochrome (see above).

2.Remove the infrared-block filter, if this is present. For how to do so, see below

Infrared-block filter

Some color cameras may have a built-in infrared block filter which prevent them to see some infrared light. If you bought a Color GigE camera from Noldus prior to July 2018, you can remove this filter to make your color camera IR sensitive.

note Color GigE cameras of model acA1300-30gc purchased after July 2018 from Noldus had the IR block filter removed making the color camera IR sensitive like the monochrome version (model: acA1300-30gm). If you have such a camera you can skip this procedure.

1.Remove the lens from the camera.

2.Check that the filter is present: you should see two circular holes at the sides of the filter.

3.Use a small Allen key or a similar object to lift the filter.

4.Put the lens back on the camera.

See also

▪Lighting setup