Knowledge Base

Prerequisites

• You have followed the entire procedure in Install an Ethernet Board for GigE Cameras.
• No matter how many cameras you use, you need a 1-Gb Ethernet interface board (desktop computers only).
• When you use a 4-port Ethernet board, you can power the cameras with Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) injectors but you can also choose to connect the board to the power outlet inside the PC. See the relevant step in Install an Ethernet Board for GigE Cameras.
• When you do not use a 4-port Ethernet board, you must use 1-Gb Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) injectors; use one per camera.
• Cables: Use Cat5e or Cat6e crossover cables.
• Do not use an Ethernet to USB adapter to connect the camera to the PC. Always connect the camera and the PC directly using an Ethernet crossover cable.

Procedure

A. Single Port Ethernet Board

To connect one camera, you need a single or dual port Ethernet interface board. To connect two cameras, you need a dual port Ethernet interface board. In either case you need as many PoE injectors as cameras, since the single port boards are not powered.

1. Using cross-network cables (Cat-5e or newer), connect the Ethernet port/board on the PC to the IN port of the PoE injector. Connect the camera to the OUT port. Use the short cable between the PoE injector and PC. Use the long cable between the PoE injector and camera.
2. Power up the PoE injector; make sure that the two CONNECT and ON green LEDs are on.
3. If the green LEDs keep blinking, wait a few more seconds. If you see no change, disconnect the cables, then re-connect them.
4. Next: Configure the digital camera.

You can also connect two cameras to two single-port Ethernet boards.

B. Two or Four-Port Ethernet Board (Power Injector Not Required)

When you use this board, you can power the cameras without using the PoE injectors. However, make sure that the board receives power from the PC. See the relevant connection step in Install an Ethernet Board for GigE Cameras.

1. Connect each camera (up to four) to one of the ports on the Ethernet board, as shown in the figure below.
2. Next: Configure the digital camera.

• Tip: Label the cameras and the Ethernet ports (for example Cam 1, Cam 2, etc.). Take note of the camera serial numbers; these actions may be useful when you need to know which camera is connected to which port and assign or adjust the IP addresses.
• The Power over Ethernet (PoE) injector is a device that passes power along with data (in this case, video data from the camera) on twisted-pair Ethernet cabling.

2 or 4 Cameras

To track from two up to four GigE cameras. This topic applies to Basler GigE cameras only.

Important: You cannot use a combination of analog and digital cameras. Also, mixing video images of different camera types is not supported.

Connection Schemes

How you connect multiple GigE cameras depends on which Ethernet interface board you have installed.

• If you have multiple 1-port Ethernet boards, connect each camera to an Ethernet board. Connect each PoE injector to a power supply.
• If you have a 4-port Ethernet board, you can connect up to four cameras.

Important: Make sure the Ethernet board also receives power from the PC. See the relevant connection step in Install an Ethernet Board for GigE Cameras.

Select Multiple GigE Cameras in EthoVision XT

EthoVision XT mixes the camera images in a picture-by-picture fashion.

1. Connect your cameras.
2. In EthoVision XT, choose Setup > Experiment Settings and select the number of cameras from the list next to Number of Sources.
3. Select the cameras under Source. The camera names will show their own IP address in brackets at the end, which makes it possible to distinguish between the cameras.
4. Select the resolution and frame rate of the first camera. The resolution and frame rate of the other cameras is set automatically to the same values as for the first camera.
5. Next to Merged Camera View, select whether the picture-by-picture mixed image should have the same resolution as the images from the individual cameras, or whether the resolution should be the sum of that of each camera image. The maximum total resolution is 1920 x 1200. The camera model determines the maximum resolution.
6. Click the preview icon to get a preview of the merged camera images.

• Noldus does not support video tracking from multiple GigE cameras connected to a laptop computer. Always connect multiple cameras to a desktop computer.
• Important: Each camera must always be connected to the same port on the Ethernet board; the IP address of the camera and that of the adapter are linked. In the case of a multi-port Ethernet board, each port is viewed as a network adapter with its own IP address. The information of which port is linked is stored in the driver software of each camera. If you swap cameras, they will not be recognized. Therefore, always label the Ethernet ports and the cameras.
• Tip: When using one Ethernet interface board per camera, rename the network adapters listed in the Windows Control Panel, for example Front camera and Top camera.

Each camera must have a unique IP address. The third set of numbers should be different between cameras. Note that the third set of numbers must be the same for the camera and the adapter it is associated with. See the following example:

• Camera 1: 192.168.x.1 associated with network adapter with IP 192.168.x.101
• Camera 2: 192.168.y.1 associated with network adapter with IP 192.168.y.101

• The cameras should have the same firmware version. Check this in the Pylon Viewer software. In the Features panel, under Device Information, check Firmware Version. If the cameras do not have the same firmware version, an upgrade or downgrade must be performed.
• US and Canada Customers: Use 192.168.200.1 for the camera IP address. The second camera on the same card or port should use 192.168.200.2, and so on. The subnet mask should be 255.255.255.0 for all cameras.

Source: EthoVision XT 18 - GigE Install and Setup, Noldus Information Technology