Application · Synchronized high-speed video & sensor data acquisition

At 140 m/s, a 10 ms timing error is 1.4 metres.

When a high-speed camera and a separate measurement system each keep their own clock, the two datasets drift apart. This is how HSCAM keeps them aligned.

Real demonstration

Multi-camera synchronization, shown live

This setup shows synchronization of multiple cameras, analog inputs, and automated trigger options — demonstrated at the Messe Vision trade fair and reviewed live in HSCAM's own recording software.

HSCAM's own setup diagram for the Punching-Ball demo: an HSCAM Color and an HSCAM Mono camera, each with its own MultiLED light synced via a SYNC/Min-BOB connection, USB to a laptop, and a PC driving a presentation screen over GigE.

HSCAM demonstration booth at a machine-vision trade fair: two cameras on tripods aimed at a red punching ball, with a laptop showing live dual-camera HSCam Viewer software.

Wide shot of HSCAM's own booth at the Messe Vision 2018 trade fair, showing the punching-ball rig and an HSCAM representative beside it. — HSCAM's booth at the fair

Elevated wide shot of the whole Messe Vision 2018 exhibition hall floor, with HSCAM's booth a small part of a much larger trade fair. — The trade fair floor

Trade-show demonstration

HSCAM STREAMER 1M13 and 1C13, in MultiCAM mode synced by exposure, triggered on an ADC threshold value with a 1 second pre-trigger buffer. A Python plugin for HSCam Viewer drove acquisition, with a live measurement-evaluation script generating marker/trigger events whenever the ADC value crossed a definable threshold, and automated replay to a separate display.

Recorded footage

Dual-camera playback with synchronized ADC data

Cameras: 1C13 + 1M13
Recorded at: 1,280 × 864 px @ 1,000 fps
Compression: ~4.15 / ~4.19 (overlay)
On-screen date: 08.11.2018

Real screen recording from Messe Vision 2018 — HSCam Viewer's own on-screen figures, not restated from a source document.

Recorded footage

Single-camera view with 4-channel ADC graph

Camera: HSCAM 1M13
Channels shown: ADC 1–4
View: Single camera + waveform
Source: Messe Vision 2018

Real screen recording from the same demo, showing the measurement-channel side on its own.

Why this is hard

Two systems, two clocks, one process

A separate camera and measurement system, synced only loosely (e.g. by a shared trigger signal or a control-system cycle), accumulate timing error that has no way to be corrected after the fact — the data has already been recorded out of alignment.

Measured performance

Timing and position: two separate results

How tightly frames and samples line up in time is one measurement; how accurately the resulting positions line up is another. HSCAM's steel-mill documentation reports them separately.

Temporal — timing jitter

~10 ms → nanosecond-range jitter

Without vs. with HSCAM's frame-synchronous acquisition.

Spatial — synchronization accuracy

Sub-millimeter accuracy

An independently stated figure.

HSCAM's approach

Measurement data captured on the camera's own clock

HSCAM STREAMER cameras acquire analogue and digital measurement channels internally, on the same clock as the image sensor — rather than relying on an external system to align two independent clocks after the fact.

Built-in channels

4× 16-bit ADC (±10V) · 2× GPIO

Extended channels

Up to 20 ADC via HS-DAQ

Multi-camera sync

MultiCAM mode, synced by exposure

Evidence

Demonstrated Results

Trade-show demonstration

Demonstrated Results — trade-show capability demo

Punching-Ball measurement fusion

HSCAM STREAMER 1M13 and 1C13 in MultiCAM mode, synchronized by exposure, triggered on an ADC threshold value, tracking a punching ball. Live HSCam Viewer software shown on-screen.

Pre-trigger buffer: 1 second
Recorded at: 1,280 × 864 px @ 1,000 fps, both cameras

A red HSCAM camera mounted beside a rolling-mill shear, next to the cutting disc and wire guide tube.

Documented deployment

Demonstrated Results — real industrial deployment

Steel & rolling mill process monitoring

HSCAM STREAMER 1M13 deployed for 24/7 monitoring of a high-speed steel shear-trimming process, with synchronized measurement data acquisition.

Timing jitter (temporal): ~10 ms → nanosecond-range jitter with HSCAM sync
Video / measurement sync accuracy (spatial — a separate claim, not derived from the timing figure above): Sub-millimeter accuracy
Data rate (stated requirement): ~5.2 GB/s raw from 4 cameras → resulting rate < 1 GB/s across the production chain

Relevant hardware

Cameras used in this application

HSCAM STREAMER 1M13

Used in this demonstration alongside a 1C13 color variant, in MultiCAM mode.

View product →

Integration

Configure triggers in Python, go to FPGA for microsecond timing

Trigger logic, pre-trigger buffering and per-channel measurement acquisition are configured through HSCAM's Python scripting plugin. For deterministic, sub-microsecond response there is an FPGA tier, integrated by HSCAM.

Tier	Latency · platform
Python-Framework camera SDK	< 100 ms latency · PC/Laptop · customer with provided examples
Camera SDK integration	< 100 ms latency · PC/Laptop · customer with additional HSCAM support
FPGA integration	< 1 µs latency · on-camera · HSCAM only for now
DAQ extension	< 1 µs latency · DAQ module · HSCAM only for now

The camera behind it

Product

HSCAM STREAMER 1M13

Solution

Steel & metals

Engineering

Python to FPGA integration

Recognize this problem in your own process?

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Tell us your timing tolerance, channel count and trigger source.

HSCAM GmbH · Angerstraße 40–42, Haus B · 04177 Leipzig, Germany
contact@hscam.com · hscam.com