LBP2 User Guide Document No: 50306-001 v3.0 6/28/2016 Page 16
Note: All of the pre-canned setup files provided with LBP2 are write protected files.
These file names begin with a tilde (~).
The setup file will open and LBP2 will begin collecting data from the camera.
To begin collecting data with the camera, insert the necessary amount of beam
attenuation devices between the camera input and the laser beam output and then align
the camera with the laser beam.
Most Newport supplied cameras are supplied with a basic set of ND filters that can
attenuate lasers up to about 5 Watts. At power levels greater than this the user should
add in additional beam attenuating devices such that the power delivered to the camera
imager is low enough to prevent damage.
Warning: Camera imagers are easily damaged by laser power and
energy levels from lasers that are considered to be of relatively
low output power. Be sure to read the damage specifications
of the supplied camera and do not exceed them. Replacing
these special camera imagers is time consuming and costly.
1.5.1 CW Laser Setup
For a CW laser choose a …CW… style canned setup file. This is the most basic
type of setup and works best to become familiar with LBP2 on a simple, user
friendly, HeNe style laser.
For a first time user, beginning with a low cost HeNe or diode laser pointer is a good type of beam to practice
with.
If the laser has a high rep-rate pulsed output (pulsing much faster than the
camera frame rate) then to the camera it may appear more like a CW output. If
this is the case, applying a CW setup on this type of laser may be successful.
If the pulsed laser has a low rep rate, or there is a need to split out single laser
pulses, then choose a Pulsed setup as described below.
1.5.2 Pulsed Laser Setup
If working with a pulsed laser choose a …Pulsed… style pre-canned setup file.
All of the pulsed setup files employ the Video Trigger capture mode. This is a
simple method to automatically sync the input with the pulse rate of the laser. In
this mode, LBP2 will buffer a data frame every time the camera outputs a frame of
data that contains a laser pulse.
Video Trigger mode will not produce the best image quality, especially if the pulse
width is large in proportion to the frame exposure time. Occasionally frames will
be distorted or of lower than normal amplitude. This type of frame should be
ignored when using Video Trigger mode.
To improve the data collection reliability change from the Video Trigger mode to
the Camera Trigger mode. The Ophir SP cameras used with LBP2 all support