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GenICam Vision Source: DirectShow Capture Filter for USB3 Vision and GigE Vision Cameras

The Datastead GenICam Vision Source is a DirectShow video capture source filter that exposes any GenICam / GenTL compliant camera (USB3 Vision, GigE Vision, …) as a standard Windows video capture device, usable from the TVideoGrabber SDK or from any DirectShow application.

An industrial camera seen as a webcam

The filter registers as a regular video capture device named Datastead GenICam Vision Source: the camera shows up in the camera list of everyday DirectShow applications (OBS Studio, VLC, ffmpeg, AMCap, GraphStudioNext, recording, streaming and conferencing tools), exactly like a webcam. No vendor SDK or viewer is needed to get a live picture. This use, without an application of your own, is covered by the workstation license.

How it works

The filter is a generic GenTL consumer: it talks to the camera through the vendor’s GenTL producer, the .cti file installed with the camera driver (for example the VimbaUSBTL.cti shipped with Vimba X for Allied Vision cameras). It does not include any vendor transport layer.

The camera settings are exposed three ways:

  • the property pages of the filter (Device, Image, Exposure, Trigger, Features, About), from any DirectShow host showing the filter dialogs;
  • the standard DirectShow interfaces IAMCameraControl and IAMVideoProcAmp, so the usual camera control and video quality dialogs of the host work as with any camera;
  • the custom IGenicamControl / IGenicamControl2 COM interfaces, to drive the camera without any dialog, down to every GenICam (SFNC) feature by name.

From the TVideoGrabber SDK (recommended)

TVideoGrabber sees the camera as one more video capture device: select Datastead GenICam Vision Source in VideoDevices, then start the preview or the recording as with any camera. The property pages open with ShowDialog, and the exposure, gain, white balance and image adjustments are reachable through the standard video quality and camera control properties. The TVideoGrabber sample code is included in the package.

From any DirectShow application

The filter is enumerated in the video input device category like any capture device, and configured through its property pages or its COM interfaces (IGenicamControl, IGenicamControl2).

Features

  • Pixel formats delivered to the graph: RGB24 (on-board debayering), Y800 (Mono8), UYVY (YCbCr422_8) or raw RGGB Bayer, with an Auto mode picking the best format the camera supports.
  • ROI, binning, exposure and gain (manual or auto), frame rate, white balance, gamma, hue, saturation, sharpness, brightness and contrast.
  • Free-run, software or hardware trigger.
  • Generic access to any GenICam feature by name.
  • Settings persisted per camera, re-applied automatically when the camera opens.

Requirements

  • Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit. The package ships the 64-bit (x64) filter: the host application and the GenTL producer must be 64-bit too.
  • A GenTL producer (.cti) for the camera, installed on the machine.
  • The Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x64).

Evaluation and license

The evaluation version is fully functional, with an evaluation watermark overlaid on the video frames and the raw Bayer output limited to 60 seconds. Two licenses are available, depending on how the filter is used:

  • Developer license (EUR 950): royalty-free, for applications built with the TVideoGrabber SDK or with DirectShow. The application passes the license key to the filter at run time, and the licensed filter is redistributed with the application: the end users need no license. 2 years of upgrades, new versions and e-mail support included. Purchase.
  • Workstation license (EUR 180 per PC, EUR 680 for 5 PCs, EUR 1,080 for 10 PCs): to use the camera from OBS Studio, VLC, ffmpeg or any other DirectShow application, without writing code. A license file is copied once on the PC and unlocks the filter for every application running on it: no activation, no internet access, no hardware binding. One license per PC, 1 year of updates and e-mail support included. Purchase: 1 PC | 5 PCs | 10 PCs.

The licenses never expire. How the key is passed or the license file installed: License key.

Download | Purchase | Documentation