Introduction

The Camera Link standard defines four enable signals:

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FVAL Enable Signal

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LVAL Enable Signal

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DVAL Enable Signal

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Spare Enable Signal

The Camera Link standard requires that enable signals are provided on Channel Link chips as follows:

Camera Link Configuration	FVAL	LVAL	DVAL	Spare
Lite	X	X	-	-
Base	X	X	X	X
Medium	X and Y	X and Y	X and Y	X and Y
Full	X, Y and Z	X, Y and Z	X, Y and Z	X, Y and Z
72-bit	X, Y and Z	X, Y and Z	X, Y and Z	X, Y and Z
80-bit	X only	X, Y and Z	-	-

Enable signals usage vs. acquisition mode

On Grablink boards, the enable signals are used differently according to the type of acquisition:

Area-scan image acquisition

When acquiring images from area-scan cameras, Grablink frame grabbers use the Camera Link enable signals as follows:

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The rising edge of the FVAL Enable Signal is used as a "Start-of-Frame". The falling edge is ignored.

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The rising edge of the LVAL Enable Signal is used as a "Start-of-Line". The falling edge is ignored.

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The DVAL Enable Signal can be used as a Camera Link clock qualifier.

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The Spare Enable signal is unused.

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The Width GenApi feature of the Remote Device module specifies the image width (number of pixels per line).

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The Height GenApi feature of the Remote Device module specifies the image height (number of lines per frame).

Line-scan image acquisition

When acquiring images from line-scan cameras, Grablink frame grabbers use the Camera Link enable signals as follows:

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The rising edge of the LVAL Enable Signal is used as a "Start-of-Line". The falling edge is ignored.

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The DVAL Enable Signal can be used as a Camera Link clock qualifier.

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The Spare Enable signal is ignored.

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The Width GenApi feature of the Remote Device module specifies the image width (number of pixels per line).

Enable signals usage as GPIO inputs

On PC1628 Grablink Duo, the Camera Link enable signals are available as source lines for the LIN tools of the I/O Toolbox.