Open data file from FLIR camera ptw file

[cjensen]

Hello All,

I've spent a good deal of time looking into this topic and came up with limited results so I request help from the masses...

I have a FLIR SC7650 thermal imaging camera.  FLIR has a ThermoVision toolkit for LabVIEW to interface to their cameras.  Just happens that this particular camera is not supported.  It is theoretically a GigE camera so I should be able to pull images with LabVIEW vision, which I can do, however I cannot attain the speed I require.  For example the camera can record at 200fps but through MAX I can only get 33fps.  There are limited features I can access through MAX so I can't really track down the problem.  I believe the camera is storing the video to memory for the duration of the recording then transferring it over ethernet to FLIR's software.

Anyway, here is my problem/question.  Through FLIR's software I can record a thermal video which gets saved as a .ptw file.  In order to do the analysis I require, I have to open the file and export the individual frames I am interested in.  It sounds trivial but this process can take hours given the number of videos I have and the number of frames I need to export.  Does anyone have experience with opening the .ptw file and grabbing frames from the video in LabVIEW?  Through my searching I have found someone did something similar using python.  I am in the process of seeing if I can use labpython to reach my goal but figured I would ask here as well.

Thank you,

Chris

[Andy-C]

Hello Chris,

I couldn't find much information at all about working with .ptw files. Maybe someone else can chime in here?

As far as the slow FPS you are observing in MAX, have you tried adjusting your exposure rate? If the camera is GigE Vision compliant, all of the GigE options should be available in MAX as well as LabVIEW. In general, a GigE camera will send a continuous stream of packets during acquisition rather than sending one long chunk at the end, but I'm not positive for this exact model.

Are you sure you aren't exceeding the available bandiwdth of your network adapter? What resolution are you attempting to acquire at? Are you able to acquire at 200 FPS with the FLIR software?

Best,

Andy C.

Applications Engineer

National Instruments 

[cjensen]

Hi Andy,

Thank you for your reply.

I have used several GigE cameras in the past and as you mention, with those I am able to change frame rate, region of interest, etc. This camera doesn't seem to behave as others.  From within FLIR's software I can get 200 fps using the full detector and increase fps by windowing down.  Within MAX I am only getting 39 or so fps.  It turns out that this camera was a model that was offered by a company FLIR bought out and continued the product line.  There is very little support and I feel like I solve one problem and run into another.  Since I am not using this for a true machine vision application analyzing the recorded data is sufficient so I figured it may be easier to pull frames from the data file.  That turns out to be not so easy either.

Thanks,

Chris

[Andy-C]

Hi Chris,

I looked at tha data sheet for the camera and did not see any statement that the camera is truly GigE Vision compliant, so it may not be fully configurable with IMAQdx.

Do you know if any of the FLIR software can output a different image file type? Is there a setting on the camera for this?

Best,

Andy C.

Applications Engineer

National Instruments 

[cjensen]

Hi Andy,

Yeah, I have not seen a GigE compliance statement either.  There is a GigE label on the camera but I'm under the impression that it does not mean much.

The FLIR software can output a different file type but it requires opening the video, scrolling to the frame of interest, and exporting an individual frame.  This process is quite time consuming.  FLIR does not have a batch export process either which was why I was hoping I could do that in LabView.

Thanks,

Chris