Configuring a Camera
When connecting a camera to your computer for the first
time, all features will be set to the factory values. This topic will
help you to configure the camera according to your needs using the pylon Viewer.
Configuring a Camera
To configure a camera:
- Put an object in the camera’s field of view.
- Make sure that the object is properly illuminated. Use continuous
illumination for this initial setup. If you want to use strobe light
in your application, it's better to try this after the initial setup.
If you need assistance in determining the optimum illumination for
your application, contact Basler technical support.
- Open the lens aperture of the camera "halfway" by choosing
an intermediate f-number.
- Click the camera’s name in the device tree of the pylon
Viewer to select the camera.
Notice that your camera's name now appears at the top of the Features pane. If you select a feature in
the Features pane, you can adjust its
settings.
- (GigE cameras only:) In the Features
pane, click the + icon next to the Transport Layer category and set the Packet Size parameter to 1500.
- Change the Gain
and Black Level
settings to their lowest allowed values:
- In the Features pane, click the
+ icon next to your camera’s name.
A list of setting categories will appear.
- Click the + icon next to the
Analog Controls category.
You can set the gain and the black level by using the slider next to
the value box, by using the up/down arrows next to the value box,
or by typing a new value into the box.
- Change the Exposure Time setting
to its lowest allowed value:
- Click the + icon next to the
Acquisition Controls category.
The controls for setting the exposure time will appear as shown
below.
- Use the slider to set the exposure time to its lowest allowed
value.

- Click the
button
in the toolbar, press F7, or click Camera
in the menu bar and select Continuous Shot.
The camera starts acquiring images continuously. The acquired images
are displayed in the image window of the camera.
Adjusting Image Brightness
With the current camera settings, the images you are seeing may be very
dark or perhaps even black.
To adjust the image brightness:
- Increase the Exposure Time setting
enough, so that the brightness of your image is almost at the desired
level. (The viewer is capturing and displaying images continuously,
so you should see the effect of any setting change almost immediately.)
- If required, increase the Gain setting
slightly to improve the contrast.
- If no image is visible, if it is not stable, or if the image displays
artifacts, try one or both of the following:
- Go to the Acquisition Controls
category and decrease the frame rate.
- Go to the Transport Layer category
and decrease the packet size. (If you are using a GigE camera,
the network adapter to which your camera is connected, may not
be able to handle the packet size used by the camera.)
If you were able to solve the problem, go back to step 2. Otherwise,
contact Basler
technical support.
- Adjust the focus ring on the lens so that the image is properly
focused.
- Adjust the lens aperture to fine-tune the overall image brightness.
Also take note of the depth
of focus in the acquired images. Adjusting the aperture affects
the depth of focus.
- Make small adjustments to the black level
to ensure that detail is still visible in the darkest parts of the
acquired images.
- Stop image acquisition by clicking the
button
in the toolbar, by pressing F8 or by clicking Camera
in the menu bar and selecting Stop.
- Save the image in the display window by clicking the
button in the toolbar
or by clicking Camera in the menu bar
and selecting Save.
Now that you have configured the basic settings of your camera to acquire
an image, you can optimize the
image quality.