How Do I Enable Power over Camera Link (PoCL) on My Frame Grabber?

Updated Jun 20, 2018

Reported In

Hardware

  • PCIe-1433
  • PXIe-1435
  • PCIe-1473

Issue Details

The Power over Camera Link (PoCL) standard provides power to the camera via the PoCL connection through a PoCL supported camera link cable. This eliminates the need to have a separate power supply connected to the camera. Which National Instruments Camera Link frame grabbers support this standard, and how do I enable it?

Solution

The following High-Performance Camera Link frame grabbers support PoCL:
  • PCIe-1433
  • PXIe-1435
  • PCIe-1473R (Please note the 1473R inherently supports PoCL and no .icd file needs to be edited to enable PoCL for this card)
The camera's PoCL compatibility should be explicitly documented in the camera's user manual provided by the vendor. In order to enable PoCL for your camera, add the following line to your camera's .icd file under the section for your frame grabber.

EnablePoCL(Yes)

That will allow the frame grabber to provide power to a PoCL camera.  The only exception to this implementation is the PCIe-1473R.  This frame grabber has PoCL enabled by default.

Additional Information

National Instruments frame grabbers implement a feature called SafePower that allows the hardware to detect if a PoCL cable or camera is connected before providing power on the PoCL lines. This prevents damage to hardware that does not require PoCL. By default, SafePower will prevent the frame grabber from providing power to the camera unless PoCL is explicitly enabled.

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