Revision
Notes

11.1

  • Added new feature FEATURE_LIGHTING. Currently, this is only used to control the external LED controller for the Navitar Resolv lens.

  • Added a new Action for PL-X cameras; ACTION_SENSOR_SYNC. This is used to provide better synchronization of frame captures when using PTP (Precision Time Protocol).

  • Added a new Event for PL-X cameras; EVENT_SNESOR_SYNCHRONIZED. This event is generated/sent by the camera when an ACTION_SENSOR_SYNC has been completed.

11.0

  • Release 11 focused on changes to the applications and installer. There were no API changes with this release.

  • The default build toolchain for binaries and code samples is now Microsoft Visual Studio 2015.

  • There are now separate installers for 32-bit and 64-bit installs. However, DirectShow filters and TWAIN drivers are 32-bit only.

  • Allow on-camera flip, for cameras that support this feature.

10.7

  • Updates to support new 10 Gigabit Ethernet cameras (PL-X variants).

  • Added support for asynchronous events generated by supported cameras (via the PxLSetEventCallback method).

  • Added support for new FEATURE_PTP, allowing camera time synchronization between cameras that support the IEEE1588 / PTPv2 protocol.

  • Added new API functions PxLSetActions and PxLGetActions, so that supporting cameras can be instructed to perform pre-defined action operations at a specified time. These actions can be related to FEATURE_TRIGGER and FEATURE_GPIO so that applications can performed timed frame captures or GPO (General Purpose Output) operations. Furthermore, when combined with FEATURE_PTP, these actions can be synchronised across multiple cameras.

10.6

  • Added support for the High Dynamic Range feature FEATURE_GAIN_HDR (if supported by the camera model).

10.5

  • FEATURE_EXPOSURE now accommodates 1 or 3 parameters (if supported by the camera model). The additional 2 parameters allow the user to specify exposure limits to be applied for AUTO operations.

  • AUTO and ONEPUSH operations can now be performed for FEATURE_GAIN (if supported by the camera model).

10.4

  • Added support for the Navitar (Generation 2) Zoom and Fine Focus Controller. More specifically, added the following new functions:

    • PxLGetNumberControllers will enumerate all controllers connected to the system, providing identifying information on each.

    • PxLAssignController will assign a specific controller, to a camera. Features implemented by this controller, are then controlled via the camera identifier.

    • PxLUnassignController will un-assign a specified controller, from a camera. That controller can then be assigned to a different camera.

10.3

  • Added support for 10-bit packed format (for cameras that support this format).

10.2

  • PxLGetEncodedClip will allow an application to capture a video clip from a stream of camera images, encoding them using a specified encoding technique.
    Currently, only H.264 encoding is supported.

  • PxLFormatClipEx converts a captured video stream (encoded or not), into a video file suitable for viewing via a video player.
    Currently, .avi and .mp4 video formats are supported.

10.1

  • Added support for General Purpose Input (GPI) for PL-D cameras.

  • Added CAMERA_INITIALIZE_EX_FLAG_ISSUE_STREAM_STOP flag for PxLInitializeEx.

  • Increased USB 3.0 interoperability for Power Saving options.

  • Reduced minimum exposure time for PL-D721, PL-D722 and PL-D725 cameras.

  • Bug Fixes.

10.0

  • Compliant with the latest USB3 VISION standard for all PL-D cameras.

IMPORTANT NOTE: U3V Compliant cameras will not work with Release 9.3 host software (and older).

  • FEATURE_FOCUS can now accept up to 2 parameters when PxLSetFeature is called with the FEATURE_FLAG_ONEPUSH bit of the flags register is set (to perform a one-time auto focus operation). These two additional parameters (if supplied) will represent the range over which the auto focus is to be applied.

  • Added support for dotNet v4.5 platform.

  • Removed support for Windows XP.

  • Various bug fixes.

9.3

  • Added the new feature FEATURE_SPECIAL_CAMERA_MODE. This feature is currently only supported on the new PL-D752 cameras. It allows you to put the camera in a special mode of operation that accommodates a wider range of frame rates.

  • Added support of the feature FEATURE_AUTO_ROI to the PL-D camera line. This new feature, when used with FEATURE_WIDE_SHADING to allow the user to white balance the camera using a specified portion of the image.

  • Add a new function:

    • PxLGetCurrentTimestamp to allow an application to sample the image timestamp clock of a camera (without actually capturing an image).

    • PxLSetPreviewStateEx behaves identically to PxLSetPreviewState - but has an additional callback function to accommodate changes made to the preview window (required for Linux implementation). 

  • Added support for the pixel format PIXEL_FORMAT_XXXX_PACKED_MSFIRST. This new 12-bit packed pixel format may be used with certain models of PL-D cameras.          

9.1

Add new features

  • FEATURE_SHARPNESS_SCORE

  • FEATURE_FOCUS

Updated frame descriptor information.

9.0

Added support for our new PL-D USB3 cameras.


Added new features:

  • FEATURE_ACTUAL_FRAME_RATE

  • FEATURE_FOCUS


Added new function

  • PxLGetCameraInfoEx

Updated frame descriptor information

8.7

Added support for our new PL-C USB cameras.

Don't bother looking for the GEV cameras if the GEV driver is not loaded.

Better version on ENABLE_FEATURE macros in PixeLINKTypes.h.

New Frame descriptor for our PL-C cameras.

8.6

Executables and runtime environment moved to Visual Studio 2008 SP1.


PxLGetNextFrame could return very old frames.


Aborting a debug session while streaming a USB camera could cause a blue screen.


Changes to environment variables during install would not take effect until after reboot.


FEATURE_IMAGER_CLK_DIVISOR has been deprecated.


Save/Load factory settings did not update the ROI on GEV cameras.


Stopping the stream could take up to 10 seconds to complete.


PxLInitialize would only find cameras that were connected when the application started.


FEATURE_PIXEL_FORMAT is not persistent on GEV cameras, therefore it should not have the FEATURE_FLAG_PERSISTENT set.


Capture OEM: When loading user or factory settings, restore FEATURE_PIXEL_FORMAT to an 8-bit format if FEATURE_FLAG_PERSISTENT not set.


Default firewire stack on Windows 7 could cause blue screens.


Legacy firewire stack on Windows 7 cannot stream full rate on some computers (e.g HP). See the PixeLINK Knowledge Base Article 274 for more information.


32-bit drivers would unnecessarily be installed in %SystemRoot%\Syswow64\drivers on 64-bit machines.


Added 64-bit version of ApiSpy.


For GigE cameras, FRAME_DESC::uFrameNumber field now uses a camera-based counter, rather than one generated by driver on host.  

8.4

Added support for development of 64-bit applications.


Several GigE bug fixes.


Callbacks for CALLBACK_FRAME applied neither flips nor rotations.


Fixed a Blue-Screen seen when using "Stop Debugging" in Visual Studio when debugging an application using callbacks.


PxLGetNumberCameras would not find a GigE camera that has already been initialized with PxLInitialize(Ex).


PxLSetCameraIpAddress would sometimes return an error when setting a static IP address.


PxLGetNextFrame would occasionally time-out when using very low frame rates.

8.2

PxLGetCameraFeatures was reporting an incorrect FEATURE_GAIN maximum.

8.1

Added support for PL-E and PL-H CCD series of GigE cameras.


Capture OEM now defaults to Advanced Mode.


API 3.2 for PL-A66x cameras now available as a separate install.


Added new feature, FEATURE_PACKET_SIZE, supported on GigE cameras.


New function PxLInitializeEx and new error codes.


Reduced dependencies on third-part libraries


Several bug and blue-screen fixes for GigE.


Addressed a streaming bug with some Firewire cameras.


Several bug and blue-screen fixes for USB, Firewire, and GigE.


Note: As of this release, GigE cameras do not support the following features:


  • FEATURE_EXTENDED_SHUTTER (aka knee points)


  • FEATURE_LOOKUP_TABLE


  • FEATURE_IMAGER_CLOCK_DIVISOR


This will be addressed in future releases Please contact PixeLINK support for more information.


7.26

Added support for new feature FEATURE_BODY_TEMPERATURE.


Improvements to make USB communications more robust.


Fixed some blue screens seen with USB.


A fix for frame loss at very high frame rate on Firewire.


Bug fix for GigE when rapidly starting and stopping streaming.


Now returning an error when calling START_PREVIEW on a USB or GigE camera that is not streaming.


7.25

Updated signature files for silent installs.

7.24

Fixed several blue screen issues associated with USB-over-Ethernet devices.

7.23

PixeLINK API is now const-correct.


Addition of FEATURE_FLAG_VOLATILE to feature flags.


Removal of support for Image Pro Plus.


Added Tips, Tricks and Gotchas section to documentation.

7.14

Removal of IP_ENGINE_INFO struct.


Changes to CAMERA_ID_INFO struct.


New feature flags


New PixeLINK.API.NET assembly:


- changes to reflect changes to CAMERA_ID_INFO and new feature flags.


- an error was incorrectly being reported when calling GetCameraFeatures on WHITE_BALANCE.


Documentation for PixeLINK.API .NET assembly now a separate help file.


More demonstration applications.


Changes to Capture OEM to allow it to compile and run under Visual Studio 2005.


USB and GigE cameras would return wrong Top and Left values for PxLGetCameraFeatures.


The frame rate recorded in the .avi files was incorrect.


Ability to control GigE heartbeat timeout via registry or PxLPrivateCmd.

 

7.12

More demonstration applications.


#defines previously in PixeLINKDefines+.h now in PixeLINKTypes.h.


Minor (benign) revisions to PixeLINKTypes.h.


Fixes for PixeLINKApi.bas.


Addition of PxLPrivateCmd.

7.11

Capture OEM preview overlay did not work with MONO8 images.


PxLGetCameraFeatures would return the wrong max value for ROI.Left and ROI.Top on 1394 based cameras.

7.03

Added a "launch pad" for the API to documentation.


Added information related to GigE tools.

7.01

Added extensions to support GigE cameras. Specifically:



6.21

Added .NET support and example code to the API documentation.


.NET assembly was missing enum for PixelAddressingType.

6.18

Added new feature MAX_PIXEL_SIZE - to report the maximum number of pixels used in the camera.

6.17

Changes to LabVIEW interface module.


Major changes to Help files.

6.16

Fixed resource leak when handling frame data.

6.15

Fixes problems setting knee-points on USB cameras.


Fixes to USB cameras for auto-exposure.

6.14

Various bug fixes


6.11

USB driver tested and signed by Microsoft.

6.09

Support for FEATURE_SHARPNESS.


Various LabVIEW fixes.

6.08

Support for non-blocking calls to PxLGetNextFrame (when callbacks configured) with software triggering.

6.0

Added new feature IMAGE_CLOCK_DIVISOR - Reduces frame rates by a factor of 2 for machines unable to process frames at the lowest frame rate setting.

May 2005

Fixed playback bug when AVI is captured. Frame rate information saved in AVI header now reflects the speed of capture rather than a default of 50 fps.


PxLFormatImage can now output in RGB24.


A bug which caused byte swapping in the PxLCameraRead & PxLCameraWrite functions has been fixed.

Jan 2005

Improvements to PxLFormatClip to improve performance and limit dropped frames.

Dec 2004

Fix for using multiple descriptors. These were not working properly if tabs were switched in the Dev App.


There is a new PixeLINKApi.bas file included in the install for use with Visual Basic.


From version 4.0, the following changes have been made:


  • New functions have been added:

    • PxLCameraRead & PxLCameraWrite - read and write blocks of data from the advanced address space of the camera registers. The format of the data is camera dependant and is defined in the relevant camera system guide.


  • Flip and Rotate modes have been added to accommodate vertical and horizontal image flips as well as image rotations. If these are not supported directly by the camera, they will be performed by the driver on the host.


  • A feature to control white shading was added to allow control of inpidual color gains.


  • A number of new Pixel_Formats have been added for compatibility with color Bayer patterned cameras. The formats also take into account the rotation and flip modes of the camera/driver.


  • In the documentation, the term "decimation" has been replaced with "pixel addressing mode". Several pixel addressing modes have been added for cameras that support decimation, binning, averaging and resampling.


  • The API supports features compatible with IIDC specification 1.31.


  • Multiple Descriptor structures are possible depending on the firmware of the camera being used. The latest descriptor format now includes the pixel addressing mode, white shading and rotate status of the camera. The new data is appended to the end of the descriptor structure. Special instructions to ensure backwards compatibility can be found in Appendix D.