Camera Link is a new digital transmission method designed by vision manufacturers specifically for the machine vision industry. Customers asked for it: an easy way to connect digital cameras to frame grabbers. The solution is Camera Link™.

Camera Link is a cable specification that includes data transmission as well as camera control and asynchronous serial communications all on a single cable. Now, only two connections (power and Camera Link) are required to quickly interface to a multitude of frame grabbers and cameras.

As a standard that has been defined by industry members, Camera Link provides the following benefits:

• Standard Interface: Every Camera Link product will use the same cable and signaling. Cameras and frame grabbers can easily be interchanged using the same cable.
  
  
• Simple Connection: Only two connections will be required to interface a camera and frame grabber: Power and Camera Link.
  
  
• Lower Cost: Because Camera Link is an industry-wide standard, consumers will be able to take advantage of lower cable prices.
  
  
• Smaller connectors & cables: The technology used in Camera Link reduces the number of wires required to transmit data over traditional LVDS or RS-422 parallel interfaces, allowing for smaller cables. Smaller cables are more robust and less prone to breakage.
  
  
• Higher data rates: The technology used in Camera Link has a maximum data rate of 2.3GB/s, for use in the most demanding high definition, high frame rate and line scan.

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