BitFlow has been developing industrial frame grabbers and software for the imaging industry since 1993. We specialize in interfacing to cameras with very high data/frame rates; working in environments with complex triggering and I/O requirements; and running in applications where every CPU cycle is precious. Our software is some of the easiest to use, yet incredibly powerful and reliable. With thousands of boards installed throughout the world, into hundreds of imaging applications, we are confident that we can solve your imaging problems.
Frame Grabbers
Have a Camera?
BitFlow products support all cameras: differential (LVDS/RS422), Camera Link (Base, Medium, Full, and 10-tap) as well as all analog (progressive scan, NTSC/PAL, RS170/CCIR, and most custom formats).
Need Speed?
BitFlow frame grabbers uniquely support all cameras at all frame rates, even their highest frame rates. Our Karbon board can DMA images at up to 2 gigabytes per second into your host memory.
Using Multiple Cameras?
BitFlow has frame grabbers that can support up to four independent cameras, even mix/match cameras on the same frame grabber. Every camera gets its own triggers, encoders and general purpose I/O.
Need PoCL?
BitFlow's new Neon-CL supports the Power over Camera Link standard (PoCL). PoCL is the new small footprint method for powering high speed digital cameras with a single cable.
Need PCI Express?
All of BitFlow's current frame grabber families are available for the PCI Express bus
Require Precise Control?
All BitFlow products have all the I/O you will need for inputs/outputs/triggers/encoders, no matter how complex, and the software/architecture to control them.
Need reliability?
Our industrial strength frame grabbers have what it takes to run on the factory floor for years, yet are priced to make you forget the competition.
Need longevity?
We know it often takes years to deploy and new machine. More importantly, once it's in the field, an OEM wants to ship the same product for years. We design and build our frame grabbers so support long product cycles. In fact we are still building frame grabbers that first shipped in 1997.
3rd-Party Software Development
Using ImageWarp?
ImageWarp can acquire directly from all of BitFlow's frame grabbers. BitFlow also supports changing camera files, triggering modes and much more directly from the GUI.
Using HALCON?
MVTec's HALCON is a powerful machine vision environment. All of BitFlow's frame grabbers are supported. Our driver has many custom modes and parameters that let HALCON users take full advantage of our board's capabilities
Using LabView?
LabView is a enormous graphical programming environment. BitFlow's boards are available as Virtual Instruments (VI) that let you connect them right up to your image processing algorithms.
Using another 3rd party application?
BitFlow supports many 3rd party applications, for more information click here. If you don't see your package, let us know.
Application Development
Want to roll your own?
Of course, many customers like to write their own software. Our Software Development Kit provides hi-level APIs that make integrating our boards into your application quick and simple.
Need a special mode?
There's also an API that provides direct register level access to the board.
Need a monstrous amount of memory?
We have a true 64-bit SDK that runs on 64-bit versions of Windows (currently supports up to 128 gigabytes). You can allocate as much memory as you can fit in your PC and out boards will DMA images to all of it without using any CPU cycles.
Have multiple image-based products?
Our "write once, use anywhere" architecture means that you only have to create one code base for use on any/all our products, greatly simplifying your product development and production.
Business
Need to contact a sales person?
BitFlow sells through world-wide through distrubutors, and in the United States through Manufacturer's Representatives. Our Sales Channel has been fully trained in our products and can answer you pre- and post-sales questions. Should you not have a representative in your territory, you can contact us directly with your questions.
Need support?
BitFlow provides some of the best technical support in the industry. We know you have a sophisticated application with a tight deadline, most of our customers do, and we'll do whatever is needed to get your application up and running quickly and reliably. Our customers start their first project with us because of our products' features, but the design their second, third, etc. project with us because of our support.
Need to know more about BitFlow?
BitFlow was founded in 1993 by a group of folks that had been in the imaging industry for years. Our first product provided a giant leap forward for machine vision customers by leveraging the emerging power of the Personal Computer. We have been designing sophisticated, yet easy to use, hardware and software for the machine vision market ever since. All along we have found and kept customers by providing personal and comprehensive technical support. As we look into the future, we see faster products with more power, more sophisticated software, but the same personal attention to our customers.
News
BitFlow President Speaks at the The Vision ShowBitFlow president Reynold Dodson will be speaking in a conference called "Connectivity Performance in Machine Vision System Design" at The Vision Show, June 10-12, Boston, MA. This session will be held June 11, at 8 AM. Mr. Dodson will addressing the frame grabber side of the connectivity issues involved in machine vision systems. For more information visit The Vision Conference page one the AIA web site.
New Press Release PageWe've added page to which makes it easy to find all of our press releases. This page contains all of the recent press release titles, with links to the full release copy. Click here or click on the News menu item on the left to see the page.
Come see BitFlow at The Vision ShowThis June, in Boston, BitFlow will be showing their complete product line up interfacing to many camera and running exciting demos. Come see us in Booth 425. For more information on the The Vision Show, click here.
BitFlow SDK 5.00 AvailableWe are pleased to announced the Official Release of Version 5.00 of our Software Development Kit. This release supports all of our current frame grabbers on all 32-bit and 64-bit current versions of Windows (including Vista). This is Final Release and has been tested by quite a few Beta testers as well has passing our own in-house release process. At this point, this release has been pounded on by a large number of customers in a wide variety of systems, we are confident it will meet your needs. For more informations, see the SDK product page. The release is available on the downloads page.
Announcing Photonfocus MV2-D1280-640 CompatibilityBitFlow has completed the integration of the Photonfocus MV2-D1280-640 area scan camera with the Karbon frame grabber family. The MV2-D1280-640 is a 1280 x 1024 pixel camera that runs at speeds up to 500 FPS. The MV2-D1280-640 has some unique features that set it apart from other cameras in this category. The Karbon 2F model supports all of the features of this camera at its full frame rate. The Karbon 4F model supports simultaneous acquisition from two of these cameras at its full frame rate. Contact BitFlow support for camera configuration files. For more information on Photonfocus cameras see their web sight: www.photonfocus.com. For more information on the Karbon, click here.
BitFlow in the NewsBitFlow Engineers contributed recent to an article in the January 2008 issue of Vision System Design. The article is about the challenges building frame grabbers (and other devices)on the PCI Express bus. View the complete article, Speeding Up the Bus on Vision System Design web site.
Choosing a Frame Grabber Gets EasierIn order to make it even easier to choose the right BitFlow Frame Grabber, we have added a product selection matrix. This matrix shows all of the BitFlow Frame Grabbers and their associated features and interfaces.