Do you need to understand the difference between GigE and FireWire?
Actually that’s a trick question, because of course anyone who works in machine vision needs to understand the difference. If you feel in need of a refresher, take a few minutes to read “GigE or FireWire” by Ingo Lewerendt of AVT and published in Quality Magazine October 28th, 2009.
It’s a good article that discusses bandwidth, network topologies and cable length issues. I didn’t realize that when it comes to multi-camera applications FireWire is the clear winner (unless you need really long cables or …)
AVT used to be firmly in the FireWire camp, that is, until they purchased Prosilica. Now they’re backing both horses. But if you’re at all familiar with CameraLink you’ll know camera interface technology isn’t a two horse race. In my view though, CameraLink is superior to both GigE and FireWire, and also more expensive to implement. A clear case of “horses for courses” as my gambling buddy says.
And if you feel like backing an outsider, there’s always USB.
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1 comment:
Thanks for the helpful article, its really great when an author can make clear distinctions between complex systems acknowledging both their positive and negative aspects.
With regards to the winning interface for machine vision, power does not necessarily equate with practicality. And your mention of USB at the end as a sort of afterthought seems misplaced. Although USB lacks the capabilities in comparison to Firewire, GigE, and Cameralink, the price point and universal compatibility of USB makes it ideal for mass produced machine vision cameras.
Taking a cameras application father is always a driver for developers, but the bottom line always wins out.
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