# Connect the USB 3.0 camera to the PC

One USB 3.0 camera

Connect the camera to the USB 3.0 interface board of the EthoVision XT desktop computer, or to a USB 3.0 port on the EthoVision XT laptop computer.

▪USB cables are usually 3 to 5 meter long. These are generally passive cables, meaning that quality of the signal degrades with cable length. Longer passive cables are not recommended. If you need cables to cover more than 5 m distance, use a active (powered) extension cable.

▪Some USB 3.0 connectors and ports can be recognized by their blue color coding. Others show 'SS' (SuperSpeed) and the USB sign.

Multiple USB 3.0 cameras

important EthoVision XT has been tested with one USB 3.0 camera. If you want to use multiple USB 3.0 cameras simultaneously, test them thoroughly before running your experiments. Install as many USB 3.0 PCIe interface boards as cameras, unless you have an USB 3.0 4-port interface board. See Install the USB 3.0 interface board

How you connect multiple USB 3.0 cameras depends on which USB 3.0 interface board you have installed.

▪If you have multiple interface boards with 2 ports each, connect each camera to one of the ports on the USB 3.0 boards.

important Do not connect two cameras to the same USB 3.0 interface board.

▪If you have a 4-port interface board, you can connect up to four cameras. Connect each camera to one of the USB ports.

Notes

▪If you have one USB 3.0 interface board with two ports, always connect one camera. You can use the second port as a power source when using an extension cable.

See also

▪Cameras supported by EthoVision XT