Issue with Sapera Lt Add on for Dalsa Cameras, not seen with Genicam cameras

Hello, I have a question regarding Image Acquisiton with Sapera Lt add on for Dalsa Camera & Frame grabber.

Whilst Im able to create a video object, It seems capable to change parameters of the frame grabber only thru a config file (that has previously been saved using the Dalsa CamExpert software) being passed to the videoinput

ConfigFile='C:\Program Files\Teledyne DALSA\Sapera\CamFiles\User\Dalsa Mono12_50ms.ccf';   
vid = videoinput('dalsa', 1,ConfigFile)

1: So wanting to make changes to the frame grabber i.e. 8 bit or 12 bit has to be done by recreating the video object with a different config file - this is very clunky

2: It appears, that changing parameters on the camera itself (which is also gentl compliant) such as exposure time is not possible

So does this mean there is no way within Matlab to change the exposure time on Cameras attached to frame grabbers within Matlab?

I've aslo seen this ability to change parameters hasn't really been answered previously

https://uk.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/702167-the-supportedformats-of-dalsa-framegrabber-mx4-is-not-specified-and-caused-trouble

Windows 10 Dalsa Framegrabber - MATLAB Answers - MATLAB Central (mathworks.com)

Answer 1

[Kautuk Raj]

I can understand that you are trying to manage image acquisition parameters for a Dalsa camera and frame grabber using the “Sapera LT” add-on in MATLAB, and you are finding it challenging to adjust settings like exposure time directly within MATLAB.

The Image Acquisition Toolbox interfaces with the “Sapera LT” drivers in a way that makes only the frame grabber parameters directly accessible in MATLAB as properties of the ‘videoinput’ source. This does not include camera-specific acquisition parameters such as exposure time.

There are two approaches to set camera acquisition parameters:

(1) Pre-configure the Camera File (CCF):

You can make the desired settings in the camera file (CCF) before it is passed as an argument to ‘videoinput’ in MATLAB. For example:

v = videoinput('dalsa', 1, 'mycamerafile.ccf');

The camera file settings can be edited using a vendor-provided software, such as CamExpert. More details about this function can be found here on the documentation page: https://www.mathworks.com/help/releases/R2023b/imaq/videoinput.html

(2) Use Serial Port Functionality:

You can set the desired camera parameters using serial port functionality by calling the “CameraLink serial DLL” functions in ‘clallserial.dll’. This is done over the Camera Link Serial Port interface using a communication protocol compatible with the camera, as described in the camera user manual (ASCII command mode).

For further details, you can refer to the user manual of the specific camera, an example is here: https://www.daheng-imaging.com/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=file_down&f=/uploadfile/2021/0811/20210811091719934.pdf

I hope this provides clarity on how to manage your camera settings within MATLAB.