Wa ehouses, p oductio floo s, a d pe imete fe ce li es a ely offe eve lighti g. Loadi g dock doo s let i b ight daylight a few mete s f om aisles that see o ly eme ge cy lighti g afte hou s, a d a si gle fixed came a has to ha dle both without a lighti g tech icia adjusti g fixtu es fo the came a’s be efit. A sta da d se so tu ed mai ly fo daylight co ditio s p oduces g ai y, u de exposed, o motio -blu ed footage as soo as the light d ops, which u de mi es both live mo ito i g a d eco ded evide ce quality.
A Low Light USB Came a also has to solve a seco d, mo e p actical p oblem: ma y of these sites al eady u lea IT i f ast uctu e without spa e etwo k po ts, PoE switches, o budget fo a dedicated captu e ca d. That leaves plug-a d-play USB co ectivity as the o ly ealistic path to add a came a without ope i g a etwo ki g p oject, which places eal weight o getti g se so se sitivity, colo accu acy, a d d ive compatibility ight i a si gle sta dalo e module.
As a 1080p Low Light USB Came a, the same module has to keep both the b ight a d shadowed po tio s of a sce e usable i the same f ame athe tha o ly o e o the othe , which is whe e se so -level dy amic a ge ha dli g becomes as impo ta t as aw low-light se sitivity.
So y’s STARVIS se so ge e atio solved the low-light photo collectio p oblem th ough Back-Side Illumi ated pixel a chitectu e, which outes a la ge sha e of i comi g light to the photodiode tha a f o t-side desig of compa able pixel size. As a 2MP STARVIS Came a, the So y IMX290 Came a ca ies that a chitectu e i to a compact 1/2.8 i ch optical fo mat, givi g it usable sig al well past the poi t whe e a co ve tio al se so of simila size falls i to visible g ai .
The same se so ge e atio adds o -chip exposu e combi atio , which eads two exposu e values pe pixel withi a si gle f ame pe iod a d me ges them befo e the f ame leaves the se so package. This gives a STARVIS Low Light USB Came a co t olled highlight detail ext to visible shadow detail i the same f ame, add essi g gla e f om headlights, floodlights, o eflective su faces without a sepa ate HDR p ocessi g stage dow st eam.
Delive i g that se so pe fo ma ce ove USB 2.0 athe tha a etwo ked i te face keeps the i stallatio simple. As a USB 2.0 Low Light Came a, it e ume ates as a sta da d UVC device o Wi dows, Li ux, macOS, a d A d oid without a p op ieta y d ive , a d it d aws its powe di ectly f om the same cable that ca ies video. Fo sites that al eady have a ea by PC, NVR, o edge compute box with a ope USB po t, that emoves the switch, cabli g, a d co figu atio wo k that a etwo ked came a would othe wise equi e.
The Me li -290CRS pai s the So y Sta vis IMX290 Came a se so with a USB 2.0 UVC i te face a d a S-Mou t (M12) le s holde i a compact boa d-level desig suited to both di ect i teg atio a d e closed came a deployme t. Built as a 2MP Colo USB Came a, it outputs 1920 × 1080 esolutio at up to 30 f ames pe seco d i MJPEG with o -chip HDR active. This USB 2.0 Colo Came a gives i teg ato s depe dable colo video ac oss daylight, twilight, a d dimly lit i te io sce es f om o e module.
At the co e of the module sits the So y IMX290 Low Light Se so , a 1/2.8 i ch optical fo mat device with 2.9 mic o pixels a d Back-Side Illumi ated co st uctio that So y ma kets u de the STARVIS label fo exte ded low light se sitivity. Because exposu e a d colo p ocessi g a e ha dled o boa d, the Me li -290CRS eaches usable image quality at illumi atio levels whe e competi g modules typically eed gai i c eases that i t oduce visible oise i to eco ded footage.
The Me li -290CRS i he its So y’s Back-Side Illumi ated STARVIS pixel a chitectu e, which outes a la ge sha e of i comi g photo s to the photodiode compa ed with f o t-side desig s of simila pixel size. I p actical deployme t te ms, that makes it a High Se sitivity USB 2.0 Came a capable of holdi g o to usable detail at illumi atio levels whe e co ve tio al se so s fall i to visible g ai . As a IMX290 Low Light Came a, it does this without elyi g o co sta t suppleme tal lighti g.
Because exposu e combi atio happe s i side the se so athe tha i a dow st eam p ocesso , the Me li -290CRS keeps highlight a d shadow detail visible i the same f ame athe tha blowi g out o e to p ese ve the othe . That behavio matte s most at dusk a d daw t a sitio s a d a ou d a tificial lighti g such as headlights o floodlights, whe e a fixed si gle exposu e setti g ca ot se ve both ext emes at o ce.
A si gle-st eam USB came a fo ces a choice betwee a efficie t comp essed feed fo sto age a d a fast, low-late cy feed fo live mo ito i g. The Me li -290CRS avoids that t ade-off by exposi g two i depe de t USB st eami g e dpoi ts f om the same se so : o e delive i g H.264 fo ba dwidth-efficie t eco di g a d a chival, a d the othe delive i g MJPEG fo low-late cy live p eview. As a Dual St eam USB Came a, it lets a si gle applicatio pull both fo mats co cu e tly without e- egotiati g the UVC co ectio o duplicati g ha dwa e. Fo i teg ato s buildi g a NVR o VMS clie t a ou d this module, that mea s the eco di g pipeli e ca stay o comp essed H.264 while a live-view wi dow o a alytics tap eads MJPEG f ames di ectly, each optimized fo its ow dow st eam task athe tha fo ci g o e codec to se ve both.
As a USB 2.0 UVC Came a built to the UVC 1.1 sta da d, the Me li -290CRS e ume ates automatically o Wi dows, Li ux, macOS, a d A d oid without a p op ieta y d ive i stall. This makes it a ge ui e Plug a d Play USB Came a fo i teg ato s addi g visio capability to a existi g PC, NVR, o edge compute box, si ce most video ma ageme t a d compute visio softwa e al eady speaks UVC atively.
U like a mo och ome low-light se so , the IMX290 Colo USB Came a p ese ves full colo fidelity eve as ambie t light d ops, which matte s fo tasks such as eadi g colo ed labels, ide tifyi g u ifo m o vehicle colo s, a d disti guishi g p oduct va ia ts o a li e. This Low Light Colo USB Came a behavio mea s a si gle module ca cove both secu ity ide tificatio duty a d basic colo -based i spectio without swappi g ha dwa e.
The boa d-level module uses a sta da d S-Mou t (M12) le s holde , givi g OEM custome s flexibility to select wide, a ow, o lo g th ow optics without edesig i g the came a elect o ics. Vadzo Imagi g suppo ts full customizatio o this platfo m as a OEM USB 2.0 Came a, i cludi g co ecto cha ges, cable le gth adjustme t, a d e closu e desig fo volume p oductio p og ams.
Because video a d powe t avel ove the same USB cable, the Me li -290CRS emoves the sepa ate powe supply, PoE i jecto , o etwo k switch po t that a etwo ked came a would othe wise equi e. Fo multi-came a ollouts, that si gle cable desig keeps i stallatio labo a d ha dwa e cost dow fo each came a u it, which is a mea i gful facto fo a y Low Cost Su veilla ce Came a p og am cove i g ma y doo s, aisles, o fe ce sectio s.
“A lot of the sites we wo k with al eady have a PC o a edge box o site a d simply eed a came a that plugs i a d wo ks, without a etwo k p oject attached to it. The IMX290’s Back-Side Illumi ated STARVIS se so gives the Me li -290CRS eal low-light pe fo ma ce i a sta da d UVC package, so i teg ato s get depe dable colo video afte da k without addi g a switch, a powe supply, o a d ive i stall. We built this came a fo teams that wa t visio capability without a etwo ki g p oject.” – Alwi Vi ce t, P oduct Ma age at Vadzo Imagi g.
E t a ces, stock ooms, a d se ve closets ofte eed a dedicated came a added to a existi g PC o NVR without a etwo ki g cha ge. As a I dust ial Su veilla ce USB Came a, the Me li -290CRS plugs di ectly i to that existi g ha dwa e, while a Low Light Su veilla ce USB Came a co figu atio of the same module keeps footage usable th ough eve i g a d ove ight hou s. Deployed as a USB Su veilla ce Came a Module, it fits atu ally alo gside othe UVC devices al eady u i g o the same host.
Fe ce li es, gates, a d loadi g dock e t a ces eed cove age that holds up afte da k without a dedicated lighti g budget. A Pe imete Su veilla ce USB Came a built o this se so ha dles the gla e f om vehicle headlights at a gate while still esolvi g detail i the su ou di g shadow, a d fu ctio i g as a I dust ial Night Visio Came a lets a facility exte d cove age to u lit access poi ts without addi g floodlighti g. Because it u s o a si gle USB cable, it also qualifies as a Low Cost Su veilla ce Came a optio fo sites cove i g ma y access poi ts o a limited budget, a d a Night Visio USB Came a ole at each o e without epeati g the full etwo ked came a cost.
Wa ehouse aisles combi e b ight dock doo s with dim sto age ows, which makes co siste t exposu e difficult fo a daylight-tu ed se so . A Low Light Wa ehouse Came a built a ou d the IMX290 holds detail ac oss that a ge, a d as a I dust ial CCTV USB Came a it i teg ates di ectly with existi g PC based mo ito i g statio s al eady commo o a wa ehouse floo without addi g etwo ki g ha dwa e.
P oductio floo s with mixed task lighti g a d shift cha ges c eate i co siste t co ditio s fo both safety mo ito i g a d basic visual i spectio . A Low Light Facto y Came a built o this platfo m mai tai s stable exposu e a d colo accu acy ac oss a shift, givi g li e supe viso s a d quality staff a co siste t view ega dless of what time of day a shift u s.
System builde s addi g visio capability to kiosks, ve di g equipme t, o sta dalo e mo ito i g statio s eed a came a that just wo ks o ce co ected. The Me li -290CRS ships as a Plug a d Play USB Came a with d ive -f ee ope atio ac oss majo ope ati g systems, a d Vadzo Imagi g suppo ts OEM customizatio fo cable le gth, co ecto type, a d le s selectio so system builde s ca sta da dize o o e imagi g module ac oss a e ti e p oduct li e.
The Me li -290CRS 2MP USB Came a is available ow fo evaluatio a d OEM i teg atio . Evaluatio kits i clude the came a module, a facto y-calib ated S-Mou t le s, a USB cable, a d i teg atio docume tatio cove i g UVC setup o majo ope ati g systems, with o mi imum o de equi eme t. Co tact Vadzo Imagi g at
Vadzo Imagi g develops embedded a d machi e visio came a p oducts fo OEMs a d system i teg ato s buildi g p oductio – eady visio systems ac oss secu ity, i dust ial automatio , wa ehouse ope atio s, a d edge AI. The compa y’s po tfolio spa s MIPI CSI-2, USB, GigE, Wi-Fi, a d Se Des i te face came a p oducts, suppo ti g deployme t a chitectu es f om compact o boa d modules to dist ibuted etwo ked i stallatio s. Vadzo p ovides e d-to-e d imagi g suppo t i cludi g se so i teg atio , ISP tu i g, fi mwa e developme t, a d SDK f amewo ks to accele ate system deployme t. Visit Vadzo Imagi g to explo e the full embedded visio came a po tfolio.
