For Immediate Release

Fast CCD Camera Extends Performance Advantage

Vancouver, BC - January 2, 2008

The machine vision market has long sought a non-interlaced, high-performance, VGA resolution camera that has particularly high-sensitivity and fast frame rates. The ultra-compact, light weight, GC660 fills that need by incorporating  Sony’s high-sensitivity, progressive scan ICX618 ExView HAD CCD sensor running 120 frames per second at 659x493 pixel resolution over a GigE Vision-compliant Gigabit Ethernet interface. The ExView technology provides enhanced sensitivity, low-smear, and excellent near-IR response.

The GC660 is well-suited to machine vision applications requiring short exposure times for stop-action imaging. The high-sensitivity and fast shutter speed provide excellent image clarity. 

The GC660 further expands Prosilica’s extensive line of GigE Vision cameras. The ExView sensor distinguishes the GC660 from other cameras by combining exceptionally high sensitivity with high-speed, very small size, low power consumption, and light weight. The extensive feature set of the GC660 includes pixel binning, area of interest readout, external trigger and sync I/O, auto-iris control, RS-232 peripheral port, exposure, gain and offset controls, non-volatile configuration memory, event recorder capability, pre-trigger recording, programmable strobe functions, multicasting, configurable IP addresses, autoexposure and autowhite balance controls. With both monochrome and color models, the GC660 is available as C-mount or CS-mount with adjustable back focus. One of the most significant features is its GigE Vision interface that provides networkable, multi-camera, reliable data transport at high data rates over exceptionally long cables.

GigE Vision is a camera interface standard for Gigabit Ethernet-based cameras. Gigabit Ethernet is a mature technology that allows for reliable, high-speed, data transmission over long cables and also provides for networking multiple cameras into high-performance multi-view imaging applications at lower cost and effort that with other camera interface technologies. Prosilica’s GigE Vision engine, believed to be the fastest in the industry, is capable of sustaining 124 Megabytes per second without packet loss. Latency is lower than firewire cameras by a factor of 10, making Prosilica’s GigE Vision cameras suitable for even the most demanding applications.

“The GC660 is an important addition to Prosilica’s extensive line of GigE Vision cameras” says Marty Furse, Prosilica CEO. “Its high sensitivity, fast frame rates, and very small package will be of interest to machine vision users of all types.  The GC660 has the highest performance per cubic centimetre of any camera in the market.”

Prosilica also provides a software development kit that includes the complete source code of Prosilica’s Sample Viewer application. Prosilica’s SDK, available for XP, 2000, Vista, Linux, and QNX operating systems, praised by customers for its simplicity, ease-of-use, and utility, is available free of charge. Prosilica’s GigE Vision cameras are also well supported by industry-leading machine vision software from National Instruments, Matrox, MVTec, Stemmer, Norpix, and others.

Prosilica is a leading manufacturer of digital cameras for the industrial and machine vision markets. For more information contact Prosilica by email at sales@prosilica.com, by telephone at 604-875-8855, or visit Prosilica’s website at www.prosilica.com .

“GigE Vision” is a registered trademark of the Automated Imaging Association.