Image Acquisition in MERLIC

MERLIC currently offers two different ways to acquire and configure image sources, for example, camera devices or image files: either via the new graphical user interface of the Image Source Manager in the MERLIC RTE Setup or via the deprecated MERLIC tools "Acquire Image from Camera" and "Acquire Image from File".

We recommend using the Image Source Manager for the image acquisition in new MVApps and to adjust existing MVApps to ensure upward compatibility.

The tools "Acquire Image from Camera" and "Acquire Image from File" have been deprecated since MERLIC 5.0. They are still available but they are no longer maintained or updated. In upcoming MERLIC versions, the image acquisition might be supported only via the Image Source Manager.

General Information

Basic Terms and Concepts

Learn more about some basic terms regarding the image acquisition via the Image Source Manager and get information about the supported image file formats and trigger modes.

License Restrictions for the Image Acquisition

Get information about the license restrictions regarding the allowed number of camera devices used per MVApp.

Image Source Manager vs. MERLIC Tools for Acquisition

In the following, we give a short overview of the differences between the Image Source Manager and the deprecated MERLIC tools "Acquire Image from Camera" and "Acquire Image from File" tools. For more detailed information, see the documentation in the respective topics.

Acquiring Images via the Image Source Manager

  • Configuration of the image sources:
    • Independent from the MVApp, that is, image source configurations can be reused for multiple MVApps and an MVApp can be used with different image source configurations.
    • Possible for peripheral devices such as lighting or lens controllers.
    • Possible on remote systems. This enables an easy deployment of the MVApp.
    • Possible during the process integration mode (MERLIC RTE) under certain circumstances, for example, to fix image acquisition errors.
    • No specific restrictions for camera settings.
  • Image sources are assigned to a specific configuration, that is, a set of image sources.
  • With each execution, an image is acquired from all image sources of the active configuration. In the process integration mode, an "AcquisitionDone" is emitted to indicate that the image acquisition via the Image Source Manager has finished.

For more information about the Image Source Manager and how the configuration of the image sources works, see the topic MERLIC Image Source Manager (ISM).

Acquiring Images via the Tools

"Acquire Image from Camera" and "Acquire Image from File"
  • Configuration of the image source is bound to the MVApp.
    • Image source must be configured anew in each MVApp.
  • Only camera devices can be configured. Peripheral devices such as lighting or lens controllers are not supported.
  • Camera devices cannot be configured for the use with a hardware trigger.
  • Only image sources on the local system can be configured.
  • With each execution, an image is acquired only from the image source that has been configured in the MVApp.

For more information on the tools, see the respective tool references of Acquire Image from Camera and Acquire Image from File.