Video Client 2 Service Release 2 (Version 2.94) Quick Reference

Table of Contents


 

Overview

The Video Client 2 is used to analyse the video data that comes from the tunnel. One can grab a certain number of frames or just watch live video. One can calculate spot position and size of the spot, subtract backgrounds using multiple algorithms, one can filter X-Rays out of the video frame data, print images or the whole application window, use false color (own or MATLAB Jet) or greyscale mode, monitor projections of the video signal, normalize the video data or calculate the laser power. In addition to this, one can load and save images in an application-specific format (IMM, BKG), application-specific compressed format (IMC, BKC) or in the Windows BMP file format and take a snapshot.

Cameras

At the moment, there are 11 cameras installed in the PITZ 1.6 experiment. These are:

Short name Name of the CameraPositionDescription
VC 1Virtual Cathode 1 (Laser)Laser Beamline just before input windowtransverse measurements of laser beam size and position
VC 2Virtual Cathode 2 (Laser)Laser beamline just before input windowtransverse measurements of laser beam size and position (more exact)
Low.Scr1 (DDC)Double diagnostic crossjust after gunmeasuring spot size and center just after the gun
Low.Scr2 (DC)Diagnostic cross just after DDCmeasuring spot size and center just after the gun
Low.Scr3Screen 3 (straight)after DC and DDCradiation hardened camera in test operation at Low.Scr3
Disp1.Scr1Dispersive Arm (Low section)below low dipoleused for measuring momentum and momentum distribution in low energy section
High1.Scr1 (EMSY)Emittance Measurement Systemafter Low.Scr3used for emittance measurements
High1.Scr3 (Zoom)Remote Zoom screen(after whole EMSY device)measure spot size and center and analyse beamlet profiles
High1.Scr5after remote zoom, before second dispersive armtba
Disp2.Scr1Dispersive Arm (High section)second dispersive arm, after boosterused for measuring momentum and momentum distribution in high energy section
High2.Scr3screen before dump at the end of the beam pipetba
 

Features of the program

 

Menu description and quick reference of functions

MenuEntrySubmenuDescription
ApplicationStatistics Mode FourierSwitches on Fourier statistics (slow, more precise, less sensitive to noise)
StraightforwardSwitches on straightforward statistics (using MEAN and RMS formula) (fast, less precise, sensitive to noise)
StreakcameraStreak image analysis (experimental)
OffSwitches off statistics
Color ModeGrayscaleSwitches on grayscale colors (there could be problems observing weak signals)
False-color modeSwitches on false color mode (better displaying of weak signals), black means no, blue means weak, green means medium, red means strong and white means saturated signal
JET False color modeSwitches on false color mode (better displaying of weak signals), black means no, white means saturated signal, colors are drawn like in MATLAB when JET color table is used
Projection modeX ProjectionSwitches X projection on and off
Y ProjectionSwitches Y projection on and off
OffSwitches displaying of all projections off
Area of InterestCircularSwitches to circular area of interest. This also resets the area of interest to the biggest circular area of interest possible.
RectangularSwitches to circular area of interest. This also resets the area of interest to the biggest rectangular area of interest possible.
Normalisation Switches normalisation of the video data on and off
X-Ray filtering Switches X-Ray filtering on and off
Stay on top Switches the "Stay on top" on and off, if on, the program is on top of all other windows all the time
Keep aspect ratio Switches the "Keep Aspect Ratio" on and off, if on, the program resizes the video frame inside the application window to respect the proper aspect ratio of the video frame
Messages Switches a message window on and off (one can observe the program)
Preferences Shows up the preferences dialog to set up snapshot directory, the repetition rate of the system, one can switch between TINE protocol (slow, state-of-the-art, saves network bandwidth) and Sockets (fast, more stable, wastes network bandwidth)
Print image Prints the current image (can also print to electronic logbook if a proper printer for this is installed)
Print whole window Prints the whole application window (can also print to electronic logbook if a proper printer for this is installed)
Quit Quits (exits) the application
ImageLoad Loads in raw images (either IMM, IMC or BMP file format)
Save Saves raw images (either IMM, IMC or BMP file), one also has the possibility to save important experiment data (like klystron forward power) together with the image file(s) to a text file. If saving multiple images to BMP file, one is not load them in again into the Video Client as a bunch.
Grab1 FrameGrabs a single video frame
2 FramesGrabs two video frames, displayed image is a average image of these two images, all calculations are averaged over these two frames, too
3 FramesGrabs three video frames, displayed image is a average image of these three images, all calculations are averaged over these three frames, too
4 FramesGrabs four video frames, displayed image is a average image of these four images, all calculations are averaged over these four frames, too
5 FramesGrabs five video frames, displayed image is a average image of these five images, all calculations are averaged over these five frames, too
10 FramesGrabs 10 video frames, displayed image is a average image of these 10 images, all calculations are averaged over these 10 frames, too
15 FramesGrabs 15 video frames, displayed image is a average image of these 15 images, all calculations are averaged over these 15 frames, too
20 FramesGrabs 20 video frames, displayed image is a average image of these 20 images, all calculations are averaged over these 20 frames, too
30 FramesGrabs 30 video frames, displayed image is a average image of these 30 images, all calculations are averaged over these 30 frames, too
40 FramesGrabs 40 video frames, displayed image is a average image of these 40 images, all calculations are averaged over these 40 frames, too
50 FramesGrabs 50 video frames, displayed image is a average image of these 50 images, all calculations are averaged over these 50 frames, too
100 FramesGrabs 100 video frames, displayed image is a average image of these 100 images, all calculations are averaged over these 100 frames, too
200 FramesGrabs 200 video frames, displayed image is a average image of these 200 images, all calculations are averaged over these 200 frames, too
Grab and Save...10 FramesGrabs and saves sequence of 10 images and 10 background source images
15 FramesGrabs and saves sequence of 15 images and 15 background source images
20 FramesGrabs and saves sequence of 20 images and 20 background source images
30 FramesGrabs and saves sequence of 30 images and 30 background source images
40 FramesGrabs and saves sequence of 40 images and 40 background source images
50 FramesGrabs and saves sequence of 50 images and 50 background source images
100 FramesGrabs and saves sequence of 100 images and 100 background source images
Poll Start or stop Poll mode (live video)
Analyze Analyses the current video buffer again (after one changed some settings)
BackgroundLoad Loads in background images (either BKG, BKC or BMP file format)
Save Saves background images (either BKG, BKC or BMP file)
Grab Grabs a single background that replaces the old background
Add Adds a background to the current background (addition)
Get->Envelope5 FramesCreates a enveloped background of five grabbed images (grabs five images and creates the enveloped background)
10 FramesCreates a enveloped background of 10 grabbed images (grabs 10 images and creates the enveloped background)
20 FramesCreates a enveloped background of 20 grabbed images (grabs 20 images and creates the enveloped background)
30 FramesCreates a enveloped background of 30 grabbed images (grabs 30 images and creates the enveloped background)
40 FramesCreates a enveloped background of 40 grabbed images (grabs 40 images and creates the enveloped background)
50 FramesCreates a enveloped background of 50 grabbed images (grabs 50 images and creates the enveloped background)
100 FramesCreates a enveloped background of 100 grabbed images (grabs 100 images and creates the enveloped background)
200 FramesCreates a enveloped background of 200 grabbed images (grabs 200 images and creates the enveloped background)
Get->Average5 FramesCreates a averaged background of five grabbed images (grabs five images and creates the averaged background)
10 FramesCreates a averaged background of 10 grabbed images (grabs 10 images and creates the averaged background)
20 FramesCreates a averaged background of 20 grabbed images (grabs 20 images and creates the averaged background)
30 FramesCreates a averaged background of 30 grabbed images (grabs 30 images and creates the averaged background)
40 FramesCreates a averaged background of 40 grabbed images (grabs 40 images and creates the averaged background)
50 FramesCreates a averaged background of 50 grabbed images (grabs 50 images and creates the averaged background)
100 FramesCreates a averaged background of 100 grabbed images (grabs 100 images and creates the averaged background)
200 FramesCreates a averaged background of 200 grabbed images (grabs 200 images and creates the averaged background)
Show Shows the current background image
Clear Clears the current background image
HelpQuick reference Shows this help
About Displays the about box of the program
 

Toolbar

Toolbar  
ControlDescription
<x> mmDisplays the currently calculated x MEAN value (only valid in straightforward or Fourier statistics)
<x> mmDisplays the currently calculated y MEAN value (only valid in straightforward or Fourier statistics)
x RMSDisplays the currently calculated x RMS value (only valid in straightforward or Fourier statistics)
y RMSDisplays the currently calculated y RMS value (only valid in straightforward or Fourier statistics)
ScaleDisplays the scale value used to calculate the mean and rms values
CameraOne can select the server the Video Client 2 will get its image data from. If the control is greyed out then no server change is possible. In front of each camera name the server name is written.
Switch...Opens or shows camera switching panel (to switch a server to a different camera)
Sum PixelsShows the sum of the pixels after background subtraction.
DAQstart/DAQstopStarts/stops data acquisition. When pression DAQstop the data is written to file.
DAQdiscardCan be used as a button to stop DAQ and automatically discard the data.
SnapBy pressing this button one can take a snapshot from the video frame as it is seen on screen
Drop. FramesShows the number of dropped frames since poll mode was enabled
Polled FramesShows how many subsquent frame have been acquired using poll mode.
 

Keyboard-shortcuts

HotkeyDescription
F2Switches statistics mode to Fourier statistics
F3Switches statistics mode to straightforward statistics
F4Switches all statistics off
F5Switches the color palette to grayscale
F6Switches the color palette to false colors
F10Take a snapshot from what is seen inside the video frame
ALT-A(Re-)Analyse the current frame buffer (can be loaded, grabbed or the last polled frame(s))
ALT-PSwitch poll mode on/off
CTRL-GGrabs a background and shows it on the video frame
CTRL-SShows the actual background on the video frame
CTRL-CClears the background image (no background subtraction)
 

Mouse functions

FunctionWhereDescription
right clickinside the video frame areaStarts / stops poll mode
left click and draginside the video frame areaselect area of interest
 

File Formats

In this section, the different file formats used by the application are explained.

FormatLong nameDescription
IMMIMage MediaThe IMM format is used for storing raw images from the framegrabber. It can contain more than one file and contains the scale value of the images. One should use this format to load in the images again into the Video Client 2.
IMCImage Media CompressedThe IMC format differs from IMM that the frames are compressed (using zlib). It is the preferred saving format, especially if one has taken more than 5 frames.
BMPBitMaP fileThe BMP format is used for storing raw images or raw backgrounds. A BMP file can contain only a single image. When saving more than one image the images are splitted up in multiple files. When one saves multiple images as BMP, one can not load them in as a bunch into the Video Client 2. One should use this format only if one wants to load in these images into e.g. picture processing programs in order to postprocess them.
BKGBacKGround fileThe BKG file format is used for storing raw backgrounds to file.
BKCBacKground CompressedThe BKC format differs from BKG by two things. First, the images contained are compressed using zlib and second, there can be more than one background image inside. This allows for saving of source background images where an enveloped or averaged single background image was created out of it afterwards.
 

Preferences Dialog

Preferences Dialog

Inside the preferences dialog, one can adjust various settings.

OptionDescription
ServersIf one experience problems accessing/selecting cameras using the control on the toolbar, one can force the Video Client 2 to reload the server configuration. One does so by pressing the button "Enable Reinitialisation" and pressing OK on the dialog. The server configuration is then reloaded and everything should be fine again.
Snapshot directoryHere one can enter or choose the directory where the snapshots should be written to.
DAQ configuration fileOne can put here its own special online DAQ file here to have properties acquired and stored that differ from the default property list.
DAQ output directoryHere one can enter or choose the directory where the online DAQ csv files should be written to.
Default FramerateHere one can set up the repetition rate the Video Client 2 should use to calculate timeouts. One can also select "Autodetect" and the Video Client 2 does this automatically. One should manually set the framerate only when autodetection fails. Otherwise it could happen that the computer is overloaded in Fitting statistics mode.
Transfer modeIf one experience problems with a stable transfer from the video servers using TINE protocol, one can switch back to sockets using the supplied radio button. Plase note that the radio buttons are greyed out if TINE protocol was disabled for receiving frames from servers in the local config file.
File preview dialogIf one experience problems with the file preview dialog (slow image selection due to slow network e.g.), one is able to disable the File Preview Dialog or reenable it (if it is wanted again).