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Camera Selection Guide

There are a large number of cameras available at greatly differing costs. This guide explains their differences and where each should be used. The guide is broken down into two categories: Analog cameras and Ethernet cameras.

Analog Cameras
These cameras are the most common and least expensive type. They use the same National Television System Committee (NTSC) standard video format as analog TVs in the USA. Their signal is transmitted in the same composite video format as you would find output by a VCR over the yellow RCA style connector. Each input on a HERO system is typically connected to one camera receptacle on the console or somewhere on the line. A capture card is used to convert the signal to a digital form and compress the video. This is the most computationally efficient method of recording and displaying video. The camera’s channel number is determined by which receptacle the camera is plugged into, not which camera is connected, so any camera that is connected to a specific port will always show up as the same channel number. This prevents you from having more camera receptacles across the line than you have cameras. HERO offers the following analog cameras:

30fps Standard Infrared Camera.
Description: This is the standard camera specified with most HERO systems. The shutter speed and gain are automatically adjusted to provide the optimal picture for viewing at its normal (non-accelerated) playback speed. At low light conditions the camera will turn on the Infrared LEDs on the front and switch to black and white mode to operate even in complete darkness. This camera is waterproof and very durable. The lens is a fixed focus lens much like that used on a disposable camera, allowing everything to be in focus between 1ft and infinity simultaneously.

One drawback of this camera is that in lower light levels, the shutter speed will be lengthened such that when you pause the video and look through it frame by frame it may have significant motion blur. Typical shutter speeds will vary between 1/100 of a second to 1/1000; the faster an object moves during the time the shutter is open, the more the edges of the object are blurred.

Application: This camera is typically best suited for processes that operate up to 450 cycles per minute such as packers, palletizers, and most box making equipment and slow moving equipment such as accumulators and conveyor systems. A good rule to judge whether or not this camera will be sufficient is if you were looking from where the camera is located, whether or not you would be able to discern detail such as writing on your product at normal speeds.

30fps Lipstick Camera.
Description: This camera is identical to the standard camera except it does not have the Infrared LED illuminators, and it is much smaller in size. It also costs a little more than the standard camera.

Like the standard cameras, the lipstick camera’s drawback is that in lower light levels its shutter speed will be lengthened such that when you pause the video and look through it frame by frame it may have significant motion blur. Typical shutter speeds will vary between 1/100 of a second to 1/1000; the faster an object moves during the time the shutter is open, the more the edges of the object are blurred.

Application: This camera is well suited for positioning in tight spaces.

30fps High Shutter Speed Camera.
Description: This camera uses a similar imager to the standard camera, but it has a higher quality zoom lens that allows for a brighter and sharper picture under identical conditions. The lens will allow a zoom level from 1X to 22X. All focus, zoom, shutter speed, and gain controls can be modified via controls on the back of the camera, through an optional hard wired remote, or via the HERO software with optional hardware and wiring to the console. This camera comes in a waterproof enclosure allowing it to be used in harsh environments. The shutter speed can be set from 1/125 of a second all the way up to 1/10,000 of a second, with the highest picture quality associated with fastest shutter speeds. A light source is needed to enhance picture quality and as a rule of thumb, as shutter speed doubles the lighting requirement doubles.

The draw back of this camera is that it is larger and more expensive than the standard and lipstick cameras.

Application: With enough light, this camera is best suited for applications where from the camera’s location, you would be able to see the process that is happening but need more clarity to be able to make out certain details such how much a bottle might lean over before standing back up. It is ideal for all the locations a standard camera is suited plus faster machines such as most labelers, some fillers, and machines that have very quick and abrupt motions.

Pan – Tilt – Zoom 30fps Camera.
Description: This camera is similar to the high shutter speed camera except the camera head is motorized to be able to rotate up to 180° and tilt up and down 90°. It is typically sold with an optional enclosure that provides dust protection, but water resistant enclosures that provide splash protection are available as well.

The one draw back of this camera is that it is larger and more expensive than all the other analog cameras.

Application: Due to its large size, this camera is only typically used in permanently mounted locations where you need to point the camera to observe different locations of the machine at different times. Its quality and performance is virtually identical to the High Shutter Speed Camera.

Ethernet Cameras
Ethernet based digital cameras are a more flexible option than the analog cameras, but are generally more expensive since they do not benefit from the economies of scale of a widely used and standardized format, such as the NTSC in televisions. These cameras have circuitry onboard that convert the image to a digital signal, compress it, and then package it to be sent on a standard Ethernet network. Each camera has an IP address that is different from all the other cameras to be used on that HERO camera network. A virtually unlimited number of camera ports can be installed across a line or plant to be monitored by a HERO system, and the cameras can be moved from one location to another and still show up as the same channel number without any additional hardware or software configuration. HERO offers the following Ethernet cameras:

30fps, 60fps, 120fps Cameras
Description: All the different frame rates of Ethernet cameras are nearly identical except for how fast they can acquire, process, and output a frame. They all come with an enclosure that is suitable for areas where they may get sprayed. They all have a manually adjustable lens that provides up to 10X zoom, and require a manual focus adjustment at the camera. Special options can be explored for enclosures and lenses based on your application’s requirements. The 30fps camera is capable of shutter speeds as fast as 1/10,000 of a second, and the higher speed cameras are capable of 1/20,000 of a second. Each of the cameras can be set to a shutter speed as slow as its individual frame rate. As with the analog high shutter speed camera, a light source is needed to enhance picture quality on Ethernet cameras and as a rule of thumb, as shutter speed doubles the lighting requirement doubles.

The drawback of any Ethernet camera, and particularly the higher speed ones, is that it puts more load on the DVR than analog cameras, so fewer can be used simultaneously. They can also be significantly more expensive than analog cameras.

Application: The 30fps camera operates similarly to the high shutter speed analog camera and can be used in the same applications. The 60fps camera is usually sufficient for lines running single file up to 600 feet per minute, and in many cases up to 1000 feet per minute. It will record 3600 frames per minute, and it is up to the user whether or not the number of frames recorded for a particular process is adequate to record an incident. As an example, a 60 fps camera will be adequate to determine which gripper is crushing a bottle in a filler running 3600 bottles per minute if you can have at least one bottle in view at all times, yet it will not be enough to measure to greater than ½ inch accuracy where a gripper grabs hold of a bottle on a line running 600 3-inch bottles a minute. Likewise, the 120fps and 210fps cameras will record 7,200 and 12,600 frames per minute respectively and it is up to the user to determine whether these speeds capture the recorded image adequately. As a rule of thumb, as the frame rate doubles, the processes monitored can typically double in speed.