Dycam's capabilities include the design, development, and manufacture of digital still cameras for market specific applications, as well as custom designed digital photography systems and components for OEM's, software/hardware developers, and system integrators.
Dycam's MODULAR Digital Camera is designed to be part of an imaging system with the flexibility to tailor the camera to work according to the requirements of that particular system. The camera is capable of indoor or outdoor use in a wide range of environmental conditions, depending upon the enclosure selected. In its basic configuration, the MODULAR camera is an unprotected camera electronics board that takes one picture at a time and transmits it to the host computer upon request. Using downloaded code modules, this basic camera platform can be enhanced to compress and store images, detect movement or other changes in the field of view, or process images to enhance their appearance or provide information about the image contents. A variety of enclosures are available, including a rugged weatherproof metal case for permanent outdoor installations and a compact case that contains rechargeable batteries for use with pen-based computers in field data collection applications.
The MODULAR Camera uses the screen of a computer to frame the subject and set the desired exposure, and, therefore has no optical viewfinder. The camera is available as a 256-level gray-scale or 24-bit color model in three basic picture storage memory configurations: 256-kilobytes, 1-megabyte, and 4-megabytes. Firmware is available to allow the larger memory configurations to compress and store multiple images, or even perform analysis of the image for special applications involving scene recognition or motion detection. Depending upon the capabilities of the computer, the MODULAR Camera can be connected via RS232 serial up to 115-KBaud over cable lengths as long as 25-feet or by RS485 serial over cable lengths up to 3000 feet. Multiple cameras can be operated on the same RS485 cable using the camera addressing protocols. The camera can also be interfaced through an IBM-PS-2 compatible bi-directional parallel port under DOS or Windows-3.1. Lens options include a fixed focus, a variable focus, and a variety of C-Mount lenses. The MODULAR Camera can only be operated with Dycam's Picture Viewer software under Windows 3.1. A DOS version is also available, as are Integrator and Developer Kits. For more information about how the MODULAR Camera can be customized for your application, call Dycam at (818) 407-3960, (800) 88-DYCAM in the US, or fax (818) 407-3966. Dycam Inc., 9414 Eton Ave., Chatsworth, CA 91311.
