NOVEMBER 22--Basler Vision Components (Ahrensburg, Germany; www.basler-vc.com) is introducing products that support the new GenICam standard for software access to cameras. GenICam is an abbreviation for the "Generic Interface for Cameras." Together with a group of well-known camera, frame-grabber, and software library manufacturers, Basler has developed this new standard to improve the compatibility between different camera and interface technologies.
The starting point for GenICam is a comprehensive description of the properties of a camera device in an XML file. Based on this description, a translator produces a C++ application program interface through which an application can communicate with the camera. The advantage of GenICam is that product- and manufacturer-specific details can be hidden in the XML description. The customer can change cameras or change interface technologies, such as IEEE 1394 or GigE, with little or no change to the software in their applications.
The GenICam group operates under supervision of the European Machine Vision Association (EMVA). According to a statement by Fritz Dierks, the head of software development at Basler, we can expect a growing number of GenICam-based products from different manufacturers in the following months. You can find more information on GenICam at www.genicam.org.
