# Select multiple GigE cameras in EthoVision XT

Aim

To have EthoVision XT mix the images from multiple cameras in a picture-by-picture fashion.

Procedure

1.Connect your cameras.

Connect each camera to the port of its Ethernet board. Each camera has its unique link with one of the Ethernet boards. This link is the IP address. If you swap cameras, EthoVision XT won’t get the camera image. See Connect the GigE camera to the PC and Assign IP addresses

2.In EthoVision XT, choose Setup > Experiment Settings and select the number of cameras from the list next to Number of sources.

3.Select the cameras under Source. The camera names will show their own IP address in brackets at the end, which makes it possible to distinguish between the cameras.

4.Select the resolution and frame rate of the first camera. The resolution and frame rate of the other cameras is set automatically to the same values as for the first camera.

5.Next to Merged camera view, select whether the picture by picture mixed image should have the same resolution as the images from the individual cameras, of whether the resolution should be the sum of that of each camera image.

note The maximum total resolution depends on which cameras you have. For Basler monochrome cameras, the maximum resolution is 2560 x 2048 when mixing four camera images. However, each camera model has its own set of available resolutions, which also determine the maximum resolution when merging the camera images. See tested configurations for GigE cameras (including PhenoTyper 2).

6.Click the preview icon to get a preview of the merged camera images.

Recommended video resolutions

▪4-camera configuration: Single camera view 1280 x 1024, merged camera view 2560 x 2048. See Using multiple GigE cameras

▪8-camera configuration: Single camera view 640 x 480, merged camera view 2560 x 960. See Using multiple GigE cameras

▪16-camera configuration: Single camera view 640 x 480, merged camera view 2560 x 1920. See 16-camera configuration

▪See also Resolution, frame rate, and maximum trial duration

Notes

▪Noldus does not support video tracking from multiple GigE cameras connected to a laptop computer. Always connect multiple cameras to a desktop computer.

▪When using multiple cameras, pay attention to the lens settings. These should be in such a way that the apparent size of the arenas is the same since you calibrate the distance for all the cameras (Shared calibration). If that is not possible, make one calibration for each arena (Unshared calibration). See Calibrate multiple arenas

▪The cameras should have the same Firmware version. Check this in the pylon Viewer software. In the Features panel, under Device Information, check Firmware Version. If the two (or more) cameras do not have the same firmware, an upgrade/downgrade must be done.

See also

▪Cameras supported by EthoVision XT

▪For examples of frame rate and resolution when using multiple cameras: GigE cameras

▪Connect the GigE camera to the PC

▪Assign IP addresses

▪To view the camera image Select multiple cameras

▪PhenoTyper - EthoVision XT 19 - Reference Manual. See Manuals