| IMAGING DEVELOPMENTS AND TUTORIALS |
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Learn How to Write Your Own Image Processing Algorithms
Do you have a new idea that you would like to develop? Or maybe your current image processing program doesn't allow you to tweak the parameters just the way you would like. When this is the case, you will simply have to write the procedure yourself. In the past, this endeavour was reserved for gurus and big budgets. However, now that a simple programming language such as Visual Basic has access to system memory, incredibly fast image processing may be implemented with a remarkable few lines of computer code.
Of course, the help files for Visual Basic do show how to use functions for the PictureBox, such as PSet and Point, to manipulate images, but if you have tried this, you probably found that this is too slow for respectable progress. The answer to speed all of this up is to use some rare functions that most folks never use. But don't be afraid, it really works.
First of all, it is necessary to get a feel for how a bitmap is reported to the operating system. There is a template, BITMAPINFOHEADER, that is used to do this, and the information therein provides the information to set the SAFEARRAY size. Then to read, manipulate, and display the pixel information according to your image processing recipe, you will have to use CopyMemory and VarPtrArray. That is it. How fast is it? Comparable to C and Delphi.
Click here for the example code: How to load a picture and manipulate it.
If you are a beginner, you might like to see an earlier tutorial: How to read RGB values for each pixel from a PictureBox with Visual Basic
If you have never used Visual Basic, you might want to watch a free video: Click here for Media Player Video Tutorial
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| FEATURED APPLICATIONS |
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Do you already have a camera, but need more sensitivity?
If you have a current CCD camera and it just isn't sensitive enough, perhaps you should try one of the newest cameras that uses the new generation of CCD sensors from Sony. This would be the Ex-View HAD technology that has a higher quantum efficiency and can be found in many new brands of cameras. This technology offers twice the sensitivity than before in the visible spectrum and four times in the near-infrared range. As it is more sensitive, there are extra advantages if you like to use integration. The result is less integration times, and less need for cooling due to less time for dark current to produce noise in your image. Click here for some cameras that use this new technology:
http://www.imaginghardware.com/Products/Cameras/P06668.asp
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| FEATURED PRODUCTS |
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| JAI CVS-3200 |
| Least expensive 1/2" color camera. Highest quality available without using 3CCD-prism type. Parameters such as shutter speed, gain, white balance, etc., controllable by free ActiveX control. Usable in Visual Basic, Visual C, Borland C, for example, makes system integration easy. |
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| Generic Frame Grabber |
| Least expensive frame grabber with software development kit. 2 RCA and 1 SVHS input. Video for Windows and WDM drivers. Capture stills, MPG, WMV, or AVI files. Has Direct Show source filter. Drivers for Win98, NT, 2000, XP, BeOS and Linux. Source code for driver available. |
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| Sony EVI-D30 |
| Color camera with built-in pan, tilt, and zoom. Controllable through serial port or included remote, this product is perfect for robotic vision or video conferencing. Also applicable to indoor
surveillance with built in object tracking software. |
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