The latest GigE Vision products for 2024

GigE Vision is a standard for transferring video and controlling devices over Ethernet networks. It's used to connect industrial cameras to computers, and is designed to transmit images quickly and efficiently.

What is GigE Vision?

The global camera interface standard that was first developed in 2006, by a group of 12 companies, for high-performance industrial cameras. It was designed to provide a framework for the fast transmission of images using low-cost standard cables.

What are the benefits of GigE Vision?

One of the key benefits of GigE Vision is that it allows multiple cameras to be controlled and synchronised on a 24-hour basis from a remote location. Since its introduction, the committee has grown to more than 50 members, and the standard’s administration and ongoing development is now overseen by A3 the Association for Advancing Automation.

GigE Vision 3.0 – The path to 100Gbps data rates

GigE Vision is a standard communication protocol for vision applications based on the well-known Ethernet technology. It allows easy interfacing between GigE Vision devices and hosts running TCP/IP protocol family.

GigE Vision 3.0 addresses requirements for data rates above 10Gbps by introducing streaming using the Remote DMA protocol RoCEv2, in particular the Reliable Connection SEND transport function. Sensor to Image, a Euresys subsidiary, offers a set of IP Cores and a development framework to build FPGA-based transmitter products using the GigE Vision interface. Due to the speed of GigE Vision, senders require a fast FPGA-based implementation of the embedded GigE core. The GigE Vision 3.0 core set provides best performance with AMD UltraScale series devices (and newer) or Altera Agilex devices. Find out more by visiting: https://www.euresys.com/en/products/ip-cores/vision-standard-ip-cores/

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There have been a number of updates since the standard’s inception. The most recent version of the standard is 2.2, which was released in June 2022. Primary enhancements include GenDC streaming and multi-event data.

GigE Vision products on the market now

There are many new GigE products on the market – not all will necessarily be GigE Vision compliant – including those from Basler, JAI, Teledyne Flir, and Lucid Vision Labs. All of these firms now offer a 5GigE portfolio using Sony Pregius global shutter CMOS sensors. Basler’s Ace 2 Basic cameras, Teledyne Flir’s Forge area scan camera family, and cameras in JAI’s Go-X series include models with resolutions ranging from 5 to 24MP.

Teledyne Flir’s Forge family supports link speeds of 1, 2.5, and 5GigE, and offers burst mode to capture images at speeds up to 10Gb/s into memory. This, combined with a 500MB image buffer, allows engineers to capture information in bursts for high-speed applications. The camera's reliability framework gives engineers tools to develop reliable systems faster.

Lucid Vision Labs recently launched the Triton2 EVS event-based 2.5GigE camera, featuring the IMX636 and IMX637 event-based vision sensors, in collaboration between Sony and Prophesee. The IMX636 and IMX637 sensors combine Sony’s CMOS image sensor technology with Prophesee’s event-based Metavision sensing technologies. With these event-based vision sensors, individual pixels trigger events in response to changes in luminance. It is designed to enable high-speed, low-latency output, enhancing the efficiency of recognition processing systems.

GigE cameras from IDS can be integrated into an existing network infrastructure, whether a housing or board level version is selected, the wide range of CMOS sensors means that the GigE cameras are ideal for all kinds of applications. They are also available as PoE cameras (Power over Ethernet). IDS also offers 10GigE uEye Warp10 cameras, also based on Sony Pregius sensors (5, 8.9, and 12MP)

e-con Systems provides a range of GigE series cameras designed for high-resolution imaging, even in low-light conditions, while supporting extended cable lengths. These cameras use standard interfaces like Power over Ethernet (PoE) with IEEE 802.3af compliance, enabling both power and data transmission through a single GigE connection. Equipped with an internal ISP, the cameras offer advanced imaging controls for high image quality. With direct network connectivity, multiple cameras can be synchronised using Precision Time Protocol (PTP) for precise timing. This series also supports efficient data sharing with H.264/H.265 video encoding and is compatible with the ONVIF standard for seamless integration.

The S2I GigE Vision field programmable gate array (FPGA) solution from Euresys is delivered as a working reference design along with FPGA IP cores. This can help to minimise development time and allow for high performance at a small footprint. It is designed to allow for flexibility in order to customise the design.

The most recent launch from Opto Engineering is the Itala G.EL series of GigE Vision industrial cameras. The cameras have integrated liquid lens control, and integrate Sony Pregius and Pregius S CMOS sensors. The can be used in combination with many optics that integrate liquid lens technology, such as the EL5MP series lenses, the PCHI023-AF optics, or the TCEL series lenses.

Optomotive’s Smilodon is a customisable and user-programmable FPGA-based high-speed smart camera featuring a Xilinx Zynq FPGA. It includes Arm system-on-chip technology, combined with Gpixel sensors available from 5 to 25MP, and a 1 or 10 Gigabit Ethernet interface. Targeted for applications in laser triangulation, motion capture, process automation and quality control, Smilodon 10G Evo has a user-programmable open-reference design.

Pleora Technologies offers a software solution, eBus Edge, that converts embedded platforms, sensors, and cameras into GigE Vision devices. For 3D inspection, designing eBus Edge into imaging devices can help manufacturers overcome multi-part data support and interoperability challenges that traditionally add cost and complexity. It converts 3D images and data into GigE Vision- and GenICam-compliant time-stamped data that is transmitted with associated metadata over low-latency Ethernet cabling. Data from multiple sensors, including 1D and 2D images, can be synchronised and transported in parallel using multiple streams. The company’s latest Thunderbolt external frame grabber converts GigE Vision cameras into PCIe cameras by transmitting high-bandwidth imaging (up to 22.5 Gbps) and data over Ethernet cabling directly to a Thunderbolt port on PCs, laptops, embedded and single-board devices.

Zebra Technologies offers a range of products that use GigE Vision, including 3D sensors, machine vision cameras, and smart network interface cards (NICs). The company’s 3D profile sensors use a dual-camera and single-laser design, and can be used with a GigE Vision interface. The CV60 series of machine vision cameras are available with GigE Vision interfacing. They feature high-resolution CMOS sensors, and are designed for vision systems with multi-camera configurations. GevIQ NICs offer GigE Vision acquisition offload at speeds up to 25Gb/s per-port.

This is not an exhaustive list. If you provide GigE Vision-compliant products and technology, and you’d like your company to be included, please email: editor.imaging@europascience.com.