| The Imaging Source DBK 21AG618.AS
Color GigE astronomy camera without IR cut filter.
1/4 " CCD, Sony ICX618AQA (progressive scan).
Resolution 640 x 480 pixels.
Up to 60 FPS and 60 minutes exposure.
C/CS mount.
Software included.
Features: Up to 60 FPS
With 60 FPS (frames per second), the DBK 21AG618.AS is the fastest within its category. It is ideally suited to color astrophotography, in which very fast image sequences should be captured. The camera ships with IC Capture.AS, a comprehensive software package with which you can capture lossless and uncompressed images sequences and write them to disk as AVI files, or as a series of singular bitmaps. Color Interpolation
For visualization applications, it does not make sense to view the RAW image stream from the CCD chip. It must be interpolated, before it may be viewed or saved in common formats. IC Capture.AS perform color interpolation, thus reducing the load on the DBK 21AG618.AS's processor. Should, on the other hand, you prefer that the camera itself performs color interpolation, you can select the appropriate option in IC Capture.AS. This enables the transfer of data to reach the camera's maximum of 60 FPS. Finally, if you do not require color interpolation at all, you can turn it off completely and the image stream is written to disk in RAW format. Sony ICX618AQA 1/4 " CCD Chip
The DBK 21AG618.AS ships with the color Sony ICX618AQA progressive scan CCD chip. With its 1/4 " format, the CCD chip produces a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. Even at very long exposure times - up to 60 minutes exposure are possible - noise is minimal. Thanks to this extremely high quality, the Sony ICX618AQA CCD chip is also often used in other scientific, industrial and medical image processing applications. No Compression, No IR Cut Filter
The DBK 21AG618.AS does not compress the video stream it outputs - the video data that is captured by the CCD chip is outputted directly by the GigE connector. Similarly, the camera does not have an IR cut filter, a color filter, nor an other kind of electronic filter. The camera is, therefore, ideally suited to capturing very true-to-life images of the night sky. High Speed Data Transfer Via GigE
In order to transfer the vast amount of data created by the stream of uncompressed and lossless color images to the host PC, you need a very high speed bus. Hence, the DBK 21AG618.AS is fitted with a fast GigE connector. Included Software
The DBK 21AG618.AS ships with the device driver IC WDM GIGE TIS and the camera control and image acquisition application IC Capture.AS. Both of these run on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit). Software for Mac OS and Linux is available from third parties
Specifications:
General Behavior
Video formats @ FPS 640 x 480, BY8 (RAW) @ 60, 30, 15, 7.5, 3.75 FPS
640 x 480, UYVY @ 30, 15, 7.5, 3.75 FPS
Dynamic range 8 bit
Optical Interface
IR cut filter no
CCD specification Sony ICX618AQA [PDF]
Type progressive scan
Format 1/4 "
Resolution H: 640 pixel, V: 480 pixel
Lens mount C/CS mount
Electrical Interface
Connector type GigE
Supply voltage 12 VDC to 24 VDC (power supply included)
Current consumption approx. 500 mA at 12 VDC
Mechanical Interface
Dimensions H: 50.6 mm, W: 50.6 mm, L: 50 mm
Mass 265 g
Manual Adjustments
Shutter (exposure time) 1/10,000 second to 60 minutes
Gain 0 dB to 36 dB
Environmental
Max. temperature (operation) -5 °C to 45 °C
Max. temperature (storage) -20 °C to 60 °C
Max. humidity (operation) 20 % to 80 % non-condensing
Max. humidity (storage) 20 % to 95 % non-condensing |
