Knowledge Base

Fine Camera Adjustments

Each DanioVision system is thoroughly checked and set to its optimal configuration. However, transport and handling of the system may sometimes cause slight changes in the camera position relative to the well plate, resulting in a sub-optimal video image. This section helps you restore the original settings.

Centering the Well Plate Horizontally

If the well plate is not centered horizontally:

1. Loosen the washer located behind the camera bracket, under the camera profile.
2. Turn the camera in the direction required until the well plate is in the middle of the camera view.
3. Tighten the washer to fix the camera in the new position.

Centering the Well Plate Vertically

If the camera is rotated forward or backward in its vertical plane, the video image may appear incorrectly centered.

1. Loosen the two bolts at the sides of the camera profile.
2. Rotate the camera bracket forward or backward until the well plate is centered vertically in the video image.
3. Tighten the bolts.

If the Well Plate Looks Rotated

If the margin of the well plate is not parallel to the margin of the video image:

1. Open the DanioVision Observation Chamber and locate one of the bolts at the side of the camera profile (either left or right).
2. Loosen the bolt using a 3-mm Allen key.
3. Gently move the camera bracket forward or backward until the well plate is in the correct orientation. When ready, tighten the bolt.

Example of a Good Video Image

Check that the well plate fills the video image as much as possible, with the letters A–H and numbers 1–8 well visible.

Set the camera lens to maximum aperture. The image is overexposed when no water is present. Below is an example of a good video image when water is present.

Tighten the three screws on the camera lens once the image is optimized.

Additional Hardware

DanioVision offers additional connectors to attach and control custom hardware. These are Expansion 1 and Expansion 2, located on the back panel.

Expansion 1

Expansion 1 is a female 25-pin DB connector. It provides four additional TTL out lines to control external hardware and input/output lines to trigger the DanioVision camera (for example, at a specific event).

TTL-out ports are open collector outputs with a common emitter on pin 9 and 10. Voltage range 0 to 5 V.

Specify the custom hardware in the corresponding row of the Device Configuration window. For details, see experiment settings. For more technical details and how to use these connections, contact Noldus Information Technology.

• Pin 1: TTL-out port 1
• Pin 2: TTL-out port 2
• Pin 3: TTL-out port 3
• Pin 4: TTL-out port 4
• Pins 5–8: Not available
• Pin 9: Common emitter for TTL-out ports
• Pin 10: Common emitter for TTL-out ports
• Pin 11: I/O output camera
• Pins 12–21: Not available
• Pin 22: GND I/O camera
• Pin 23: I/O input camera
• Pins 24–25: Not available

Expansion 2

Expansion 2 is an 8-pin modular RJ45 feed-through connector. You can use it to connect internal add-on hardware and receive external signals in the DanioVision Observation Chamber.

Source: DanioVision DVOC-0041 Reference Manual, Noldus Information Technology