G3M678M User Manual

2.2 Sony IMX585 Sensitivity

The sensor G Sensitivity of G3M678M is 5644mv with 1/30s. Its spectral sensitivity is shown in Figure 1. The sensitivity is measured with a testing standard lens with CM500S (t = 1.0mm) as an IR-cut filter and image at F8.0. If the image is measured at F5.6, the result could have been 2 times of the current value.

Figure 1: IMX678 Spectral Sensitivity Characteristic. This graph plots relative response on the y-axis against wavelength in nanometers on the x-axis, showing the sensor's sensitivity across different light wavelengths.

2.3 12bit ADC and ROI

The G3M678M has built-in 12bit ADC. It also has 12bit output mode for hardware binning and smaller resolution. The camera also supports hardware ROI, and the smaller the ROI size is, the higher the frame rate is.

Table 2 shows the frame rate of the G3M678M in 12/8bit mode, USB3.0 / USB2.0 data transfer interface at different resolutions:

Table 2: G3M678M Frame Rate at Different Resolution/Data Bit/Data Transfer (USB3.0/ USB2.0)

2.4 DDR3 Buffer

The G3M678M camera has a 512MB (4Gb) DDR3 buffer, which helps maintain the stability of data transmission, and effectively reduce the amp-glow caused because image data can be temporarily buffered without being sent hastily to the receiver.

2.5 Binning

The G3M678M supports digital binning from 1×1 to 8×8 in either stacking or averaging method, and hardware binning from 1×1 to 2×2 in averaging method. Hardware pixel binning is much faster than software binning.

2.6 Conversion Gain Switch

G3M678M supports HCG, LCG mode switch.

2.7 Power System

The camera operates via a USB 3.0 interface. Upon establishing a connection with the host system using the USB 3.0 cable, the device is primed for operation.

2.8 Camera Performance Analysis

Camera performance can be evaluated with e-/ADU, Read Noise, Full Well and Dynamic Range.

e-/ADU: The sensors found in cameras used for vision applications have pixels that convert incoming photons into electrons. Gain on a CCD /CMOS camera represents the conversion factor from electrons (e⁻) into digital counts, or Analog-Digital Units (ADUs). Gain is expressed as the number of electrons that get converted into a digital number, or electrons per ADU (e-/ADU).

Read Noise: Read Noise is the most important reference to measure the performance of a camera. Lower read noise usually means better SNR and better quality of image. Read Noise is created within the camera electronics during the readout process as the electrons are subjected to the analog to digital conversion, amplification and processing steps that enable an image to be produced.

Full Well: The electrons are held in each pixel and are converted into electrical charge which can be measured to show the amount of light that has fallen on each pixel. The maximum electrical charge possible is termed "full well capacity". Under the same conditions such as noise and A/D converter quality, the greater full well capacity a sensor has, the wider dynamic range the sensor has. As there is a limit to the depth to which pixels can be made, the full well capacity is often proportional to the frontal area of the light gathering element of the pixel.

Dynamic Range: Dynamic Range is the ratio between the maximum output signal level and the noise floor at minimum signal amplification (noise floor which is the RMS (root mean square) noise level in a black image). The noise floor of the camera contains sensor readout noise, camera processing noise and the dark current shot noise. Dynamic range represents the camera's ability to display/reproduce the brightest and darkest portions of the image and how many variations in between. This is technically intra-scene dynamic range. Within one image there may be a portion that is in complete black and a portion that is completely saturated.

For the G3M series camera, the Gain Value is in xxx% mode. Here xxx is used as the x axis (Gain Value) for the description of the camera performance.

Rel Gain(dB) = 20 * log10[xxx(Gain Value)/100]

xxx(Gain Value) = 100 × 10^(Rel Gain(dB)/20)

Read noise is the most important reference to measure the performance of a camera. Lower read noise usually means better SNR and better quality of image.

Camera settings used for performance analysis are shown below:

• Full resolution
• RAW 12-bit mode
• LCG

Figure 2 shows the curves of the camera analysis data in Table 3.

Figure 2: e/ADU, Read Noise, Full Well and Dynamic Range for G3M678M. This figure displays four plots showing the relationship between gain and performance metrics: e-/ADU, Read Noise, Full Well, and Dynamic Range.

The camera analysis data is shown in Table 3:

Table 3: Camera Analysis Data

Camera settings used for performance analysis are shown below:

• Full resolution
• RAW 12-bit mode
• HCG

Figure 3 shows the curves of the camera analysis data in Table 4.

Figure 3: e/ADU, Read Noise, Full Well and Dynamic Range for G3M678M. This figure, similar to Figure 2, presents performance metrics against gain, using a different setting (HCG mode) for analysis.

The camera analysis data is shown in Table 4:

Table 4: Camera Analysis Data

3.1 Packing List

Figure 4: Packing Information of G3M678M. This image displays the components included in the camera's packaging.

Table 5: G3M678M Packing List

3.2 Camera Dimension and Its Mount

Figure 5: Dimension and Mount of G3M678M and 1.25” extender. This diagram shows the camera's physical dimensions and how it connects to telescopes or lenses.

The G3M series body, made from tough alloy, ensures a heavy duty, workhorse solution. The camera is designed with a high-quality IR-CUT or AR to protect the camera sensor and block the IR elimination the reflection light. No moving parts included. These measures ensure a rugged, robust solution with an increased lifespan when compared to other industrial camera solutions.

Table 6: Adapter of G3M678M

3.3 Camera Outline and Interface

Figure 6: Camera Outline and Interface. This figure points out the key connection ports on the camera.

Table 7: Camera Outline and Interface List

4.1 Application Installation

For software, customers are welcomed to go to our software website: https://touptek-astro.cn, to download the latest ToupSky. The G3M can also be used with ASCOM, DirectShow SDK. If the third-party software is compatible with these SDK, customers can also download the software driver from our website and install the drivers into the third-party software.

ToupSky is ToupTek astronomy camera's Windows application. ToupSky is a professional software integrated with camera control, image capture & process, image browse, and analysis functions. ToupSky is born with the following features:

Windows:

• x86: XP SP3 or above; CPU supports SSE2 instruction set or above
• x64: Win7 or above

Features:

• Full control of the camera
• Trigger mode and video mode support (raw format or RGB format)
• Automatic capture and quick record function
• Multi-language support
• Hardware ROI and digital binning function
• Extensive image processing functions, like image stitching, live stacking, flat field correction, dark field correction, etc.

Supported Camera:

• All ToupTek astronomy cameras