GenICam
Encyclopedia
GenICam is a generic programming interface for machine vision (industrial) cameras. The goal of the standard is to decouple industrial camera interfaces technology (such as GigE Vision
or Camera Link
) from the user application programming interface (API). GenICam is administered by the European Machine Vision Association (EMVA). The work on the standard began in 2003 and the first module in GenICam, i.e. GenApi, was ratified in 2006 whereas the final module, i.e. GenTL was ratified in 2008.
Many companies in the machine vision industry have contributed to the standard. The main companies involved in drafting the GenICam standards are:
With many companies involved in drafting GenICam standard and the interoperability benefit that it is hoped to offer, machine vision manufacturers have already started to use GenICam in their products. However, companies who helped developing the standard are taking a "two-way approach" where they still are developing proprietary SDK. It is yet to be seen if GenICam can replace all SDK development and achieve its intended goals of interoperability and, eventually, cheaper machine vision products.
GenICam consists of three modules to help solving the main tasks in machine vision field in a generic way. These modules are:
GenICam provides supports for five basic functions:
GigE vision
GigE Vision is an interface standard introduced in 2006 for high-performance industrial cameras. It provides a framework for transmitting high-speed video and related control data over Ethernet networks. The standard was initiated by a group of 12 companies and the committee has since grown to...
or Camera Link
Camera Link
Camera Link is a serial communication protocol designed for computer vision applications based on the National Semiconductor interface Channel-link. It was designed for the purpose of standardizing scientific and industrial video products including cameras, cables and frame grabbers...
) from the user application programming interface (API). GenICam is administered by the European Machine Vision Association (EMVA). The work on the standard began in 2003 and the first module in GenICam, i.e. GenApi, was ratified in 2006 whereas the final module, i.e. GenTL was ratified in 2008.
Many companies in the machine vision industry have contributed to the standard. The main companies involved in drafting the GenICam standards are:
- Basler
- DALSADalsaTeledyne DALSA is a Canadian company specializing in the design and manufacture of specialized electronic cameras.The company was founded in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada in 1980 by imaging pioneer Dr. Savvas Chamberlain, a former Professor in Electrical Engineering at the University of Waterloo...
- e2v semiconductorsE2ve2v is a leading global provider of technology solutions for high performance systems; delivering solutions, sub-systems and components to advanced systems companies, for specialist applications within medical & science, aerospace & defence and commercial & industrial markets...
- JAI Pulnix
- Leutron Vision
- Matrox ImagingMatroxMatrox is a producer of video card components and equipment for personal computers. Based in Dorval, Quebec, Canada it was founded by Lorne Trottier and Branko Matić....
- MVTec Software
- National InstrumentsNational InstrumentsNational Instruments Corporation, or NI , is an American company with over 5,000 employees and direct operations in 41 countries. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it is a producer of automated test equipment and virtual instrumentation software...
- PleoraPleoraPleora Technologies Inc. is a privately held Canadian company that that specializes in video transmitters and receivers that enable the streaming of data or video in real-time over standard Gigabit Ethernet networks...
- Stemmer Imaging
With many companies involved in drafting GenICam standard and the interoperability benefit that it is hoped to offer, machine vision manufacturers have already started to use GenICam in their products. However, companies who helped developing the standard are taking a "two-way approach" where they still are developing proprietary SDK. It is yet to be seen if GenICam can replace all SDK development and achieve its intended goals of interoperability and, eventually, cheaper machine vision products.
GenICam consists of three modules to help solving the main tasks in machine vision field in a generic way. These modules are:
- GenApi: Using an XML description file, this is used to configure the camera and details how to access and control cameras;
- Standard Feature Naming Convention (SFNC): This is the recommended names and types for common features in cameras to promote interoperability;
- GenTL: This is the transport layer interface for enumerating cameras, grabbing images from the camera, and moving them to the user application.
GenICam provides supports for five basic functions:
- Configuring the camera—This function could support a range of camera features such as frame size, acquisition speed, pixel format, gain, image offset, etc
- Grabbing images—This function will create access channels between the camera and the user interface and initiates receiving images
- Graphical user interface—This function enables user GUI interface to seamlessly talk to the camera(s)
- Transmitting extra data—This function enables cameras to send extra data on top of the image data. Typical examples could be histogram information, time stamp, area of interest in the frame, etc
- Delivering events—This function enables cameras to talk to the application through an event channel.