Camera Simulation

Table of Contents

• CVMockTL
• Usage
• Configuration
• Streaming image files from disk

CVMockTL

CVMockTL is a simulated GenTL producer that provides an interface, devices and streams without relying on any physical hardware.

Usage

In the GenICam Browser, the CVMockTL can be enabled via View-> Show / hide TLs....

In order to detect the CVMockTL in code, the IncludeMockTL flag has to be set, programmatically. For more information see the Device Discovery Documentation.

#include <cvb/device_factory>
 
auto discoveredDevices = Cvb::DeviceFactory::Discover(Cvb::DiscoverFlags.IncludeMockTl);

using Stemmer.Cvb;
 
var discoveredDevices = DeviceFactory.Discover(DiscoverFlags.IncludeMockTL);

import cvb
 
discoveredDevices = cvb.DeviceFactory.discover_from_root(cvb.DiscoverFlags.IncludeMockTL)

Configuration

The CVMockTL can be configured either through the GenICam Browser or via a user-created configuration file, CVMockTL.json. This file can be placed locally (residing in the working directory of the application that should use the CVMockTL) or globally (residing in %cvbdata%\Drivers). The CVMockTL.json placed locally will take priority over the global one.

By default no CVMockTL.json file is deployed when installing CVB. You need to create it yourself, using the example below (or a similar configuration):

{
    "ID" : "CVMockTL.cti",
    "Interfaces" : [
        {
            "ID" : "MyInterface0", 
            "Devices" : [
                {
                    "ID" : "MyDevice0",
                    "SerialNumber" : "12345",
                    "UserName" : "MockDevice",
                    "Model" : "Mock Camera (Default)",
                    "Version" : "1.0",  
                    "Streams" : [
                        {
                            "ID" : "MyStream0",
                            "Width" : 640,
                            "Height" : 480,
                            "PixelFormat" : "Mono8"
                        },
                        {
                            "ID" : "MyStream1",
                            "PixelFormat" : "Mono16"
                        },
                        {
                            "ID" : "MyStream2",
                            "PixelFormat" : "RGB8"
                        },
                        {
                            "ID" : "MyStream3",
                            "PixelFormat" : "RGB10"
                        }
                    ]
                }
            ]
        }
    ]    
}

It defines a single interface, with a single device having four different streams. If Width and Height are not set, the stream will assume a default value of 1920x1080. If PixelFormat is not set, Mono8 will be assumed.

Furthermore the following other pixel formats are supported:

• Mono12p
• BayerBG12p
• BayerRG12p
• BayerGB12p
• BayerGR12p

Key	Type	Description	Mandatory
Devices	Array	A list of available devices. Each entry describes one device.	✅

Inside each device object:

Key	Type	Description	Mandatory
ID	String	Unique identifier for the device	✅
SerialNumber	String	Serial number of the device	❌
UserName	String	User-defined name for the device	❌
Model	String	Model name of the device	❌
Version	String	Firmware or hardware version of the device	❌
Streams	Array	List of available data streams for the device	✅

Inside each stream object:

Key	Type	Description	Mandatory
ID	String	Unique identifier for the stream.	✅
Width	Integer	Width of the image stream in pixels	❌
Height	Integer	Height of the image stream in pixels	❌
PixelFormat	String	Format of pixel data (e.g., Mono8, Mono16, RGB8, RGB10)	❌
ImageDirectoryPath	String	Filesystem path to a directory containing images to stream	❌
ImageOrder	Array[String]	Ordered list of image file paths to load from disk	❌

Streaming image files from disk

To stream image files from disk when using the CVMockTL you can use the ImageDirectoryPath property. A relative path is interpreted based on the current working directory.

"Streams" : [
    {
        "ID" : "MyStream0",
        "ImageDirectoryPath" : "C:\\path\\to\\a\\directory"
    }
]

When using the ImageDirectoryPath property, the Width, Height and PixelFormat properties are ignored.

To specify a list of image file paths, the ImageOrder key is used. The value describes a list of image files to load in the specified order. If a client wants to load:

• image_2.tif
• image_0.tif
• image_1.tif

in that order, he should write the configuration file as follows:

"Streams" : [
    {
        "ID" : "MyStream0",
        "ImageOrder" : [
            "/path/to/image_2.tif",
            "/path/to/image_0.tif",
            "/path/to/image_1.tif"
        ]
    }
]

The following things need to be considered when streaming images from disk:

• Once the last image has been streamed, it will loop back to streaming the first image.
• When the grab is stopped and started again streaming will continue with the next image.