An eye on the future

Next month engineers with an interest in optics, photonics, vision and display technology will congregate at Birmingham's NEC for

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The event — on 14 and 15 February — offers exhibitors an environment to do business with engineers, designers, buyers and end-users, as well as allowing visitors to keep abreast of the latest industry developments.

As always, the show will display a host of new products, of which we have selected a handful.

Firstsight Vision has recently launched the Spyder GigE linescan camera, which the company claims is three times as responsive as its predecessor. At its core is Dalsa's latest line scan technology that achieves throughput rates of 80MHz. The camera is fully programmable, offering precise control over key performance variables such as gain and offset.

The camera is Dalsa's first GigE offering. With a GigE interface, you no longer need a frame grabber which means significant system cost saving. It also incorporates features such as flat field correction and CDS (Correlated Double Sampling) which are typically found in scientific-grade cameras. All resolutions provide appropriate, readily-available standard lens options (C-mount and F-mount).