Here at Imatest we recognize that not every company has an in-house team of software engineers to create a user interface for Imatest IT to suit the needs of a production environment. To address this need, we have created the Operator Console, which we are releasing as an open-source Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 project written in C++ on github: QT Operator Console or MFC legacy Operator-Console.

The Operator Console is meant to provide a basic, yet extensible, user interface that provides some of the functionality needed for a production environment. This interface allows the user to perform Blemish or SFRplus tests while capturing from any of the devices supported by the Imatest 4.1 library. (Please note that for Omnivision support there is a special activation process; see Imatest Image Sensor with Omnivision OVTAPantherM for details). Shown below is a picture of the main window where the camera being tested has passed the selection criteria.

Pass/Fail results and display

The Operator Console interfaces with the output from Imatest IT to display to the user whether or not a device has passed and for what reasons it has failed. Show below is a screen capture of the Operator Console which has failed a camera that was misaligned with the chart.

The Operator Console indicates the overall Pass/Fail status near the upper right corner of the window where, in the above screen capture, the Operator Console reports ‘FAILED’. Immediately below that display is the list of criteria that device has failed including, unsurprisingly, ‘Horizontal convergence angle’ and ‘Vertical convergence angle’. The values that the Imatest IT library returned are displayed in the next field below. Lastly, any console output from Imatest IT is displayed in the bottom field. For more information about pass/fail criteria implemented in Imatest IT, please see Imatest IT Pass/Fail operation.

An additional feature that is present for SFRplus tests only are the Quadrant-status overlays (QSOs), which are the green ‘O”s and red ‘X”s shown in the displayed image. The QSOs indicate whether an individual quadrant has passed (in the case of the green ‘O’) or failed (red ‘X’). Note that the QSOs do not track the locations of edges where the SFRplus tests are being performed. For more information about quadrants please see SFRplus special topics: quadrants and saturation.

Other features

• A password-protected GUI for modifying the pass/fail criteria that are accessible via the ‘Set Pass/Fail’ button
• A GUI for quickly changing the device from which to acquire accessible via the ‘Setup’ button
• A secondary window to display the full JSON output accessible via the ‘Show JSON’ button
• Image acquisition and image tests (e.g. SFRplus,Blemish) are run in their own thread with data transfer through buffers controlled by critical sections

Download and documentation

The source code for this project is found here: https://github.com/imatest/Operator-Console

The documentation is at http://imatest.github.io/Operator-Console

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Pelco, the world leader in the design, development and manufacture of video and security systems, has long understood the software component in the image quality equation, which is why it has relied on Imatest software and testing products for years. Imatest’s digital image testing products enable Pelco engineers to quickly evaluate alternative imaging system components and deliver quality with confidence. “Because Imatest software supports nearly every image quality test, using standard algorithms and test charts, we applied it to help us deliver the optimum configuration of components,” says David Campbell, Pelco Senior Optical Engineer.

Like many digital imaging system manufacturers, Pelco manufactures hundreds of products every day – products that must meet customer expectations and the company’s exacting quality standards. So when Imatest IT (industrial testing) was released, Pelco realized it was the most cost-effective way to ensure that the high-quality designs from its laboratories were delivered in its manufacturing process. “Operators on the manufacturing line needed to be able to test complex image quality factors in the products coming off the line. Imatest IT is the answer,” Campbell says.

Nell Papavasiliou, Camera Optics Engineer at Pelco, spearheaded a trial project to integrate Imatest IT into the manufacturing process at Pelco’s world headquarters in Clovis, CA. “I don’t have a strong background in software development, but it was a straightforward process for me to integrate Imatest IT into our manufacturing system. I wrote a few lines of C# and that was all it took,” Papavasiliou says.

Pelco management says that with the success of the California trial, the company is moving forward with Imatest and Imatest IT for other manufacturing lines to deliver a new level of quality control.

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About Pelco

Pelco, Inc. is a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of video and security systems and equipment ideal for any industry. Pelco produces the security industry’s most respected offering of discreet camera domes and enclosures, video matrix systems, next-generation digital video recorders, IP solutions and fiber optic transmission systems for video/data – and much more. For additional product or company information, please visit www.pelco.com.

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