EMVA Issues Release 4.0 of Standard 1288

The European Machine Vision Association (EMVA) introduced Release 4.0 of the EMVA Standard 1288, the standard for objective characterization of industrial cameras. The module, which the association released to the public on March 16, is the first EMVA Standard 1288 module to consider the rapid development of camera and image sensor technology, EMVA said.

EMVA launched the standard as a central component of an initiative to define a globally unified method to measure, compute, and present specification parameters for cameras and image sensors used for machine vision application in 2005.

Delivered in a modular approach, Release 4.0 is the latest update to the standard and the first since 2016 (Release 3.1). Previously, the application of the EMVA 1288 standard (with a linear model) was limited to cameras with a linear response and without pre-processing considerations. Release 4.0 consists of Release 4.0 General and Release 4.0 Linear. The advancements enable the characterization of a nonlinear camera, or camera with unknown pre-processing, even without any model due to the universal system-theoretical approach of the EMVA 1288 standard. As is the case with the linear camera model, all application-related quality parameters can now be measured this way, and, depending on the camera characteristics, the evaluation can now be applied according to the linear or general model.

Release 4.0 also includes expanded characterizations: wavelength range extends from UV to SWIR range; raw data of any given image acquisition modality can now be characterized according to the standard; the standard can now be applied to quantities calculated and derived from multiple channels; inhomogeneities are measured in detail and now decomposed into column, row, and pixel variations, making them determinable at all intensity levels from just two captured images; optionally, cameras with optics or with illumination as given by the position of the exit pupil of the optics for which the image sensor was designed can be measured according to the standard, meaning the standard is now suitable for image sensors with pixels shifted toward the edge; and there is a more suitable measure for the linearity of the characteristic curve.

Release 4.0 will replace the old Release 3.1 after a three-month period starting March 16 if no objections are submitted to the EMVA during this period and if objections can be resolved.

The EMVA has prepared multiday training programs for Release 4.0. Trainings will be held in cooperation with EMVA member companies. The new training program will also continue the certification program at expert level, EMVA said, which is intended for anyone who wants to acquire the necessary knowledge to perform EMVA 1288 measurements themselves and understand the measurement results in detail, whether in the development of new cameras, in quality control, or to understand exactly how a camera behaves for a specific application.

More information can be found here.