Hardware Installation (GigE Cameras)
This topic tells you how to install a Basler
ace GigE camera.
Prerequisites
The pylon Camera Software Suite for Windows must be installed.
General Considerations
Make sure that the following items are available before starting the
hardware installation:
- A Basler ace GigE camera.
- A computer with a suitable
GigE network adapter.
- As applicable, a power supply or a PoE power injector.
Make sure that the power supply meets all of the requirements listed
in the topic about your camera model.
If you want to use PoE and your computer is not PoE-capable,
use a PoE injector. Alternatively, you can make your computer PoE-capable
by using a network card with added PoE capabilities, for example this
one.
- As applicable, a C-mount or CS-mount lens for the camera.
If you already know what lens you will be using in your actual application,
use this lens during the camera installation and setup. If not, Basler
suggests using a zoom lens for the installation and initial setup.
Contact Basler technical support
if you need assistance in determining the best lens for your application.
- A standard Ethernet cable. Basler recommends using Cat6 or Cat7
S/STP cables. If you're using a PoE injector, you need 2 Ethernet
cables.
Suitable cables are available via the Basler
website.
The following GigE network adapters are recommended for use with Basler
GigE cameras:
- Intel Pro 1000 series
- Intel i210 series
- Intel i340 series
- Intel i350 series
These adapters generally work well with the Basler performance driver.
However, because the Intel Pro 1000 series has changed over the years,
it is possible that the Basler performance driver does not support your
particular Intel Pro 1000 adapter.
Contact Basler technical support for recommendations of currently available
Pro 1000 adapters and for information about compatible chipsets.
Network Adapters and Network Drivers
Although Basler recommends the adapters listed above, the cameras will
work with any Fast Ethernet (100 Mbit/s) or Gigabit Ethernet (1000 Mbit/s)
compatible network adapter card.
- If the adapter is not a recommended network
adapter or if you use the camera with a Linux or macOS computer,
the camera uses the pylon
GigE Vision filter driver or the socket driver.
- If the adapter is a recommended network adapter
and you use the camera with a Windows computer, the camera can use
the pylon GigE Vision
performance driver. The advantage of the performance driver
is that it significantly lowers the CPU load needed to service the
network traffic between the computer and the camera(s). It also has
a more robust packet resend mechanism.
Installing the Camera
This procedure assumes that you want to establish a peer-to-peer
connection between your ace GigE camera and a computer.

To install the camera:
- Remove the protective cap from the lens mount.
- Mount a C-mount or CS-mount lens onto your camera.
Be careful not to insert the lens any deeper than specified in the
Maximum Allowed Lens
Intrusion topic.
- Connect the camera to the computer and power.
- If you are using Power over Ethernet (PoE) with a PoE-capable
computer (recommended option)
- Plug one end of the Ethernet cable into the Ethernet connector
of the camera and plug the other end of the cable into the
PoE-capable GigE network adapter port of your computer.
- If you are using Power over Ethernet (PoE) with a PoE
injector
- Plug one end of an Ethernet cable into the "In"
(or similar) port of the power injector and plug the other
end of the cable into the GigE network adapter port of your
computer.
- Plug one end of an Ethernet cable into the “Out” (or similar)
port of the PoE injector and plug the other end of the cable
into the Ethernet connector of the camera.
- Use the power cord that shipped with your power injector
to connect the injector to an AC outlet.
- If you are using a power supply
- Plug one end of an Ethernet cable into the network adapter
port in your computer and plug the other end of the cable
into the Ethernet connector of the camera.
- Plug the 6-pin connector of the cable from your power supply
into the 6-pin connector of the camera.
- Switch on the power supply.
The camera starts up and will go through several initialization steps
including IP address assignment. This takes some time.
If your system is configured to show network connection
icons in the Windows system tray, you may see a yellow exclamation point
on the icon. You may also see a message about limited connectivity. You
can ignore the icon and the message as they don't affect the camera.
Next Steps
- Use the pylon Viewer
to check whether your camera has been detected, acquire images, display
images, and adjust parameter settings to improve image quality.
- In most cases, you must configure
your network before you can use the camera.