Knowledge Base

Problem

The camera image in EthoVision or the DanioVision chamber is too blurry or out of focus for tracking to work correctly. Detection fails or produces inaccurate results.

Details

This occurs when the camera lens has not been manually adjusted after installation or when a camera is bumped or repositioned. Affects any camera used with EthoVision XT, including cameras inside the DanioVision chamber. The video appears blurry in both EthoVision and external media players. No software-side settings can compensate for a physically out-of-focus lens.

Solution

1. Physically access the camera lens inside the chamber or on the camera mount.
2. Manually rotate the lens focus ring to sharpen the image. Use the EthoVision live camera feed or Pylon Viewer to judge sharpness in real time.
3. Optionally use the Noldus Calibration Card (if available) as a focus target: print the card, place it in the arena, and adjust focus until the grid lines are sharp.
4. Once focus is achieved, check the aperture setting on the lens: open the aperture wider (lower f-number) if the image is dark, or close it if the image is overexposed.
5. After adjusting focus and aperture, re-grab a background image in Arena Settings and re-test detection before acquiring trials.