Aug 01, 2001
Bandit-II Series Integrates Real-Time Image Grab and Display, Facilitates Vision Automation Tasks
St-Laurent, Quebec, April 30, 2001--Coreco Imaging, Inc., leading developer of high performance machine vision products, today announced the Bandit-II Series, the newest high performance frame grabbers in the Bandit family of products. The Bandit-II Series, which includes the Bandit-II CV and Bandit-II RGB, features an integrated, high resolution, VGA accelerator that supports true color display resolutions up to 1600 x 1200 pixels. This provides superior display quality for applications requiring live video display on the desktop, such as medical visualization, video surveillance, and industrial machine vision. With 16MB of on-board memory, Bandit-II also supports highly optimized 2D and 3D display rendering. The frame grabbers are available in AGP and half-slot PCI-bus format and offer full-frame video capture; on-board trigger, strobe and I/O; and a choice of sophisticated software development tools.
�There is a large class of vision applications that require a higher level of performance,� said Philip Colet, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Coreco Imaging. �Medical visualization and video surveillance, for instance, can�t afford lost data or slow display updates. Bandit-II is the answer. By combining a high performance frame grabber with a high resolution VGA controller, developers get the performance they need in an integrated and cost-effective package.�
VGA Accelerator
The Bandit-II Series frame grabbers are distinguished by the integrated VGA accelerator that improves display performance and frees host computer slots. The on-board VGA supports true color display resolutions of up to 1280 x 1024 with refresh rates of up to 85Hz, and high color displays of up to 1600 x 1200 @ 100Hz.
Bandit-II�s on-board VGA supports dual-CRT output. Images can be displayed in real time on primary system VGA or on a secondary display, in either a window or full-screen mode. Configurable as non-interlaced VGA or interlaced TV output, Bandit-II�s secondary display allows independent image zoom and scale. The TV output also allows VCR recording of live video with graphics overlay. In addition, Bandit II supports Windows 2000�s dual VGA extended desktop display capability.
Flexible Video
The Bandit-II Series includes the Bandit-II CV and Bandit-II RGB high performance frame grabbers. Designed for compatibility with a broad range of standard color or monochrome cameras, Bandit-II CV offers up to 6 multiplexed composite video or 2 S-Video inputs in RS170, NTSC, CCIR, and PAL formats. In addition to Bandit-II CV functionality, Bandit-II RGB supports one channel of RGB input, 9 multiplexed monochrome composite video cameras, or 3 gen-locked monochrome cameras.
Acquired images are stored in 8, 16, or 32-bit pixels using YUV 4:2:2, 4:2:0, or RGB formats. For higher quality image acquisition, both boards include a selectable low-pass filter as well as controls for brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, and sharpness. As data is being acquired, the entire image or a selected region-of-interest can be zoomed, scaled, or inverted vertically. Image mirroring (horizontal flip) is also supported and is a key feature in many medical applications, including endoscopy and opthamology. Trigger, strobe, and an RS-232 port are included for additional camera control.
Designed for Speed
All Bandit-II boards are designed to off-load host CPU resources and speed image acquisition and display. On-board DMA transfers digitized images to VGA display memory and system memory in real-time. A special hardware scatter-gather technique provides continuous high-speed image transfers across the AGP or PCI-bus with virtually no host CPU involvement.
Bandit-II boards are available in either AGP or half-slot PCI-bus format. The AGP accelerates graphics performance by providing a dedicated, high-speed port for the movement of large blocks of data between the PC�s graphics controller and system memory. The AGP also frees up precious PCI slots for other devices. For legacy systems without an AGP port, Bandit-II boards are available in the PCI-bus configuration.
Sophisticated Software Development Tools
Bandit-II Series frame grabbers are supported by Coreco Imaging�s Sapera and Imaging Studio software development libraries under Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows 9x.
Optimized for MMX, Sapera is a collection of image acquisition, display, and processing libraries with over 300 imaging functions. Developers can create robust imaging applications using Sapera ActiveX controls with Microsoft Visual Basic. C++ programmers can use ActiveX controls or Sapera++ classes.
Imaging Studio is a complete C/C++ foundation class library that offers a powerful object-oriented API (application program interface) for camera configuration, image acquisition, and data display. The software�s robust Interrupt API is the first in the industry to handle user-supplied interrupt functions that can be invoked within less than 100 microseconds of an external event. Thus, the software is able to handle demanding real-time applications with minimal impact on available CPU time.
Price & Delivery
Bandit-II Series frame grabbers are available immediately. Bandit-II CV is priced at $795, quantity one, and Bandit-II RGB is priced at $995, quantity one. OEM and volume discounts are available.
About Coreco Imaging
Coreco Imaging, the machine vision powerhouse that resulted from the merger of Coreco and Imaging Technology, is the world�s leading developer of high performance machine vision tools for OEMs, system integrators, and volume end users. The company designs, manufactures, and markets a complete line of hardware and software solutions for the machine vision, medical imaging, and industrial inspection markets. With over 150,000 installations, Coreco Imaging has earned a worldwide reputation for technology leadership and aggressive price/performance. The company�s frame grabbers and embedded vision engines feature such state-of-the-art innovations as ping-pong acquire and hardware scatter gather. Breakthrough software tools provide high speed, high precision pattern recognition despite changes in object/pattern size, orientation, shape, focus, or partial occlusion.
