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Using Matrox Solios eV-CL with MIL


To use Matrox Solios eV-CL, you must allocate it as a MIL Solios system (using MsysAlloc(), with M_SYSTEM_SOLIOS). This allocation opens communications with your Matrox Solios eV-CL and allows MIL to use its resources. You can allocate a MIL Solios eV-CL system for your board in multiple processes (executables). If more than one process allocates a digitizer for the same acquisition path, grabs from the different processes will be queued in the order that they arrive (first in, first out).

Matrox Solios eV-CL features a rotary decoder that can decode input from a rotary encoder with quadrature output. For more information on this feature, refer to the Using quadrature input from a rotary encoder section of Chapter 41: I/O signals and communicating with external devices. This chapter also provides information on how to configure and use I/O signals.

For information on grabbing with your Matrox Solios eV-CL, refer to Chapter 25: Grabbing with your digitizer.

For information regarding GenICam standard feature naming convention (SFNC) features, and configuring your Camera Link camera to use GenICam, see the Using MIL with GenICam section of Chapter 25: Grabbing with your digitizer.

Matrox Solios eV-CL information in the MIL Reference can be found in the paragraphs and values marked as being supported by Matrox Solios ecl/xcl/ev-cl. Refer to the Matrox Solios eV-CL release notes for any additions/modifications to this chapter or the MIL Reference.

Changing the mode of your Matrox Solios eV-CL

The mode of Matrox Solios eV-CL dual-Base/single-Medium can be changed using the MILConfig utility (Solios tab) from its factory-default setting to either single-Medium or dual-Base. Follow all on-screen procedures. Once changed, your computer must be shut-down and then turned back on (perform a cold-boot) for changes to take effect. Note that simply restarting your computer (using the Microsoft Windows security Restart option) will not allow the changes to take affect.

If you change the mode of Matrox Solios eV-CL dual-Base/single-Medium, make certain that you also choose the appropriate DCF. Using the wrong DCF when performing a digitizer allocation (using MdigAlloc()) will result in an error.

Performing Bayer color conversion in hardware

When Matrox Solios eV-CL grabs color images from a video source with a Bayer color filter (as specified by the DCF), it performs Bayer color conversion in hardware, as it transfers the images to the Host. If the images require white balancing, Matrox Solios eV-CL can perform this automatically if white balancing is enabled using MdigControl() with M_WHITE_BALANCE set to M_ENABLE. If performing white balancing, you can use the default white balance coefficients, automatically have them calculated (using MdigControl() with M_WHITE_BALANCE set to M_CALCULATE), or set explicit coefficients (M_BAYER_COEFFICIENTS_ID). For information on Bayer color conversion, refer to the Using images acquired with a Bayer color filter section of Chapter 21: Data buffers.

If you don't want to perform Bayer color conversion in hardware, disable it using MdigControl() with M_BAYER_CONVERSION set to M_DISABLE.

The M_BAYER... control types of MdigControl() can only be used when grabbing from a camera that has a Bayer color filter (as specified by the DCF); otherwise, an error will be generated.