IDS Python Module

A module for interfacing with IDS Imaging machine vision cameras. This module wraps the IDS uEye SDK, providing a convient Python interface to much of the SDK. The ids.Camera object provides attributes for easily controlling camera settings and capturing images.

Requirements

The ids module is written in Python and C, using the Python C API, and supports both Python 2 and Python 3. It has been tested using Python 2.7 and Python 3.2.

The module has only been tested on Linux, and likely does not support Windows.

Build requirements:

• IDS uEye SDK
  • SDK version 4.20 or higher is supported
  • The SDK can be acquired from the IDS website

Building and installing

Once all dependencies are met, it is simple to build and install the module:

$ python setup.py install

Or, for Python 3:

$ python3 setup.py install

Of course, if the installation location requires root permissions, sudo may be necessary.

Usage

The ids module makes it easy to control a camera. Just initialize the Camera object and set the attributes of interest, then start image capture.

>>> import ids
>>> cam = ids.Camera()
>>> cam.color_mode = ids.ids_core.COLOR_RGB8    # Get images in RGB format
>>> cam.exposure = 5                            # Set initial exposure to 5ms
>>> cam.auto_exposure = True
>>> cam.continuous_capture = True               # Start image capture

You can get images from the camera as a Numpy array

>>> img, meta = cam.next()                      # Get image as a Numpy array

PIL provides a wide range of formats to save in.

>>> from PIL import Image
>>> pil_img = Image.fromarray(img)
>>> pil_img.save("pil.jpg", quality=95)

OpenCV also allows you to save images.

>>> import cv2
>>> bgr_img = cv2.cvtColor(img, cv2.COLOR_RGB2BGR)
>>> cv2.imwrite('cv2.jpg', bgr_img) # cv2.imwrite takes a BGR image

The tiffutils module can be used to save raw bayer data as a DNG. Use one of the ids.ids_core.COLOR_BAYER color modes.

>>> cam.continuous_capture = False  # Stop capture to change color mode
>>> cam.color_mode = ids.ids_core.COLOR_BAYER_16
>>> cam.continuous_capture = True
>>> img, meta = cam.next()
>>> import tiffutils
>>> tiffutils.save_dng(img, "image.dng")

Alternatively, the IDS uEye SDK provides a function for saving images. The camera must be in a BGR mode for JPEGs.

>>> cam.continuous_capture = False  # Stop capture to change color mode
>>> cam.color_mode = ids.ids_core.COLOR_BGR8
>>> cam.continuous_capture = True
>>> meta = cam.next_save("ids.jpg")

Color Modes

It is important to take the color mode images are captured in into account, particularly for saving images. Different formats and image libraries have different expectations of the format images are stored in, so capturing images in the wrong format may result in images with swapped color channels.

The color mode constants are provided in the ids module as ids.ids_core.COLOR_*. The color mode can be passed into the color keyword argument of the ids.Camera object, or set while image capture is not running with the ids.Camera.color_mode attribute.

The IDS uEye SDK imaging saving functions, used by Camera.next_save() copy image data directly, so the appropriate mode for the format must be used. JPEG images are stored in a BGR format, while BMP and PNG are RGB.

Different libraries expect images in different format. PIL expects images to be in an RGB format. OpenCV supports many formats, but generally expects BGR data. However, cv2.cvtColor() supports conversions between many formats.

Additional information

The IDS uEye documentation is a useful source of information about the features provided by the IDS cameras and uEye SDK, and by extension, this module.