When you select this option, a screen similar to the one shown below will be displayed:
SELECT LETTER OF DESIRED OPTION...(PRESS <RETURN> TO EXIT)
Options "A" through "D" select the size of the picture that the MicronEye sends to the computer. Each picture is made up of thousands of black and white dots called pixels. When we say a picture is 128 x 64 in size, this means that the picture is made up of 64 rows of dots and that each row contains 128 dots of pixels. A 256 x 128 picture is made up of 32,768 pixels. Each pixel is either black or white.
The 128 x 64 and 256 x 128 picture size selections are compressed in the horizontal direction. The 256 x 64 and 512 x 128 picture size selections produce an image of normal proportions. Only the leftmost 280 pixels of the 512 x 128 picture will fit on the graphics screen.
The MicronEye can take either one or two pictures at a time. If you elect to look at two pictures per screen, the computer will put the second picture right below the first picture. At first glance it may appear that you have just one picture that is twice as high when the computer is showing one picture per screen. If you look closely though, you may see that where the two pictures meet there is a slight discontinuity. For some applications this may not matter. In more exacting applications, you should restrict yourself to using only one picture per screen.
You have the option of using a fixed or variable exposure time. Exposure time corresponds to the shutter speed of conventional 35mm cameras. If the picture from the MicronEye is too dark then a longer exposure time can be specified. If the picture is too light then a shorter exposure time can be specified. Exposure time can alternately be controlled by the use of real-time commands. The exposure time is specified in milliseconds. The speed at which the camera operates is equal to the exposure setting as long as the exposure time is greater than the time required for the MicronEye to transmit the picture to the computer. A more complete discussion of the interaction betwen exposure time and transmission time can be found in Technical Section.
As an alternative to manual exposure time control, automatic exposure adjustment can be specified from this setup menu or as a real-time command. Selecting the auto- adjust option tells the computer to evaluate the picture as it comes from the MicronEye to determine what percent of the pixels are white and what percent are black. When readouts are enabled, the percentage associated with LIGHT LEVEL is an approximation of how white the picture is: 100% being all white, 0% being all black.
Selecting the "DISPLAY REAL-TIME COMMANDS" options shows you the list of valid real-time commands. The screen should look somewhat like this: