Windows 10 support requires BitFlow SDK 5.90 or later. However, if your PC is running Windows 10 with secure boot mode, then you will require SDK 6.20 or later.
How can I rollback to an earlier version of the SDK
Windows caches drivers and by default always uses the one with the newest version number regardless of what is most recently installed. The good news is that you can roll the system back to any driver version you want. The procedure is below:
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To roll back to an older driver
The solution is simple, you just need to manually tell Windows to use the older driver. Here are the instructions:
1. Open the Device Manger
2. Search the list for “Imaging devices”, then “BitFlow XXXXX”
3. Right click on the relevant BitFlow board e.g. Axion and select “Update Driver Software”
4. Select “Browse my computer for driver software”
5. Select “Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer”
6. In the next dialog, look in the list for “BitFlow Frame Grabber Version X.XXX”, select this item and hit Next
7. The older driver will be installed
8. You must then reboot your computer
When your computer reboots, run our utility VerCheck and make sure the DLLs and the Driver are all the exact same version.
I have an installation issue with my Windows 7 system and the latest SDK
Starting with SDK 6.11 we are signing our kernel driver with a SHA-2 certificate. Microsoft is phasing out SHA-1 certificates. Unfortunately Windows 7 as it was originally released did not support SHA-2 certs. There is a patch which was released some time ago and you should have it on your system if you have automatic updates turned on. However, we understand why a machine vision system might have automatic updates turned off. The simple solution is to install just the following Microsoft patch, this will fix support for SHA-2 certs.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=46148
After you install this patch, reboot your system and the driver should work.
We are sorry about the inconvenience this has caused, but Microsoft is really forcing our hand here.
This problem does not exist on Windows 8 and 10.
Which type of CXP connectors does BitFlow use?
For the Aon, Cyton (2 and 4) – DIN 1.0/2.3
For the Claxon – Micro BNC
Which type of CL connectors does BitFlow use?
Neon CLB, CLD – MDR
Neon CLQ, Axion 1xE, Axion 2xE – SDR
What is the max cable length I can run between my CXP frame grabber to my camera?
CXP has several different speeds (data rates) and these determine the length of cable required.
For CXP1 or CXP 2.5 or CXP3, the max cable length is 105m
For CXP6 or CXP12, the max cable length is 40m
What is the max cable length I can run between my CL frame grabber and my camera?
First, you need to know the clock speed of the camera, as different frequencies can affect the cable length.
With Camera Link Base, the max cable length is 10m, regardless of the clock speed.
For the other camera link modes, (Medium, Full, 80-bit), the max length at 85 Mhz is 5m, at 66 Mhz is 7m and at 40 Mhz is 10m.
Please note that the max. cable length may vary from cable to cable. BitFlow recommends cables purchased from the following companies
CEI, 3M, Hewtech, Intercon1
What are camera files and how do I identify them
BitFlow offers cameras files for almost all of the current Camera Link and CoaXPress cameras that are on the market. In addition to this, you can have camera files for various options that the cameras offer, things like triggers (HW and SW), free running, different ROI to what the sensor offers etc. In the part we have offered camera files for Analog and Differential cameras. These files are still available today.
The table here shows which camera files are associated with with frame grabbers
| Frame grabbers | Type | Associated file extension |
|---|---|---|
| Cyton CXP Aon CXP | CoaXPress | .bfml |
| Axion CL | Camera Link | .bfml |
| Karbon CL Neon CL | Camera Link | .r64 |
| Alta AN* | Analog | .anlg |
| Karbon CXP* | CoaXPress | .kcxp |
| Neon DIF | Differential | .NDif |
| R2/R3* | Differential | .cam |
| R2/R3* | Camera Link | .rcl |
When you download the SDK the camera files will be stored on your hard drive in the following folder
C:\BitFlow SDK 6.30\Config\FRAME GRABBER TYPE FILE\FILES
The naming convention is as follows
Manufacturer-Model-Resolution-BitTap-Mode.EXTENSION
Where:
Manufacturer – Camera maker
Model – Camera model
Resolution – Size of acquired image
BitTap – Bitdepth (E = 8 bits, T = 10 bits, W = 12 bits, F = 14 bits, S = 16 bits) and Number of taps (2 – 10)
Mode – Triggered and/or encoder mode
An example would be the following
Hitachi-KP-FM400WCL-E8-TTLTrigger.r64
Which version of your SDK is free?
The BitFlow Windows SDK comes in two flavors, drivers only (which is free) and the full development version, which is paid for. There is also a Linux version of the SDK.
What is Camera Link?
Camera Link is Machine Vision camera to frame grabber digital interconnect standard. Camera link use a serializer/deserializer to use transmit high speed digital data over a very small number of wires. Camera Link comes in three versions: Base (up to 24 bits), Medium (up to 48 bits), Full (up to 64 bits) and 80-bit (up to 80 bits, duh). The maximum Camera Link data clock is 85 MHz. This means the maximum data rate of Camera Link (using 80 bit mode) is 850 MB/S.
BitFlow’s Neon and Axion families are Camera Link frame grabbers.
Camera Link is standard hosted by the Automate Imaging Association. For more information on the standard please visit https://www.visiononline.org/.