FAQ - Active Silicon

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Here you’ll find answers to the most common questions about our products and services. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, feel free to contact us directly.

Frame Grabber FAQs

Using a vision system with a frame grabber has many advantages. Please refer to our white paper, Understanding Frame Grabbers in Vision Systems, for a detailed discussion of the benefits. In this paper, we also explain what a frame grabber is, its main components, and its integration. In a nutshell, Frame grabbers deliver high-speed, low-latency image capture, reduce CPU load, ensure reliable data transfer, and improve synchronization for demanding vision applications.
If your application demands high levels of vision processing or perhaps employs machine learning, a processing path that uses a GPU is an efficient solution. Active Silicon frame grabbers support GPU processing.

GPU manufacturers, including NVIDIA and AMD, provide specific APIs to aid integration with third-party devices such as FireBird frame grabbers, which make data acquisition and processing extremely fast as the GPU memory is made directly accessible to the grabber.

Active Silicon’s ActiveSDK includes C++ examples for some APIs (GPUDirect for Video, DirectGMA) with full source code. Find more information on our GPU solutions page.
GenICam (Generic Interface for Cameras) is a global standard in industrial imaging or machine vision. It provides a universal software interface for industrial cameras regardless of the manufacturer. The standard ensures that any GenICam compliant camera can communicate with any GenICam compliant hardware (e.g. frame grabbers) and software packages.

Find more information on our GenICam resources page.

Active Silicon frame grabbers are all fully GenICam compliant and support a long list of manufacturers of compatible cameras.
Find general features and benefits of CoaXPress on our CoaXPress standard page.

For more information on CXP 2.0 / CXP 2.1 please refer to the following articles:
- CoaXPress v2.0 addresses need for speed (IMVE Interview with Chris Beynon, Technical Chair for the CoaXPress standard and Active Silicon CTO)
- CoaXPress update: new release -CXP 2.1 (Report from the standard meeting in 2021)
Version 3.0 of the standard is close to being finished, with plans for a release by April 2026 at the International Vision Standards Meeting (IVSM). Read more about the progress from the IVSM Fall 2025.
CoaXPress is a robust, dedicated real-time machine vision interface that allows for the fastest image data acquisition. It plays an important role in high-speed vision systems, especially those with demanding triggering or those using cameras with state-of-the-art fast sensors.

To see how it compares to other available machine vision interfaces, check out the “Guide to Understanding Machine Vision Standards” published by the leading industry associations in machine vision.
CoaXPress over Fiber is an extension of the CoaXPress Machine Vision standard for high-speed imaging in professional and industrial applications. CXP over Fiber allows the CoaXPress protocol to run over a fiber optic cable. The fiber optic cables and connectors needed for transmission are sourced from mainstream Ethernet technology (40 Gigabit Ethernet), which keeps their costs to a minimum and availability plentiful.

Fiber Optics brings many advantages: noise immunity, low loss (so long distances can be spanned) and galvanic isolation. These features make optics a useful technology for machine vision applications.

Are you looking for an introduction to this technology? Please see our White Paper: Optical fiber technology for CoaXPress over Fiber. When first working with Fiber Optics you will be confronted with many acronyms and unfamiliar terms. Our white paper: Optical fiber technology for CoaXPress over Fiber addresses these and hopefully makes starting easier.

CoaXPress over Fiber products at Active Silicon:
For FireBird frame grabbers, triggers can be set directly in ActiveCapture. We provide step-by-step guides for the following scenarios:

Guides for CoaXPress systems:
- Using a CXP Uplink Trigger & FireBird Timers (Tech Note TN011)
- Using an External Trigger Input with a FireBird CoaXPress board (Tech Note TN13)
Guides for Camera Link systems:
- Using a Camera Link Trigger & FireBird Timers (Tech Note T010)
- Using an External Trigger Input with a FireBird Camera Link Board (Tech Note TN012)
This tutorial video shows how to set up a .pcf file and how the setup works within ActiveCapture. The video refers primarily to non-GeniCam Camera Link cameras, but the procedure would be the same for any camera. The video is also available in our video gallery
Yes, ActiveCapture can also be used with non-GenICam cameras.

In this case, the software and frame grabber cannot communicate directly to the camera and you need to collect the camera values manually. The frame grabber requires information on the resolution, bit depth and tap mode of the camera. These values can be found in the camera manuals provided by the camera manufacturer.

We recommend saving these values in a configuration file (.pcf). The information then becomes quickly accessible by simply uploading the .pcf file into ActiveCapture any time needed. See this tutorial video to learn how to set up a .pcf file and how the setup works within ActiveCapture.
All FireBird frame grabbers are provided with a GenICam-compliant driver package, known as a “GenTL Producer”, to support applications that use GenApi, GenTL, GenCP or CLProtocol protocols.

For Camera Link frame grabbers, that means they seamlessly support any CLProtocol and GenCP camera and provide immediate compatibility with any GenICam-compliant software packages.

If all hardware is GenICam compliant, camera and frame grabber control work “out-of-the-box” within, for example, ActiveCapture (Active Silicon’s GenICam front-end application).

Interoperability is one of the key benefits when using the GenICam standard. Learn more about the standard GenICam on our GenICam compliant frame grabber solutions page.
To get an overview of ActiveCapture, have a look at our ActiveCapture product page and our tutorial video “ActiveCapture Software – Introduction” on YouTube. The video is also available on all frame grabber product pages and in our video gallery.

Other language versions: ActiveCapture Introduction – Chinese or Korean.

The FireBird QuickStart Guide gives a brief introduction to using ActiveCapture as well.
Yes, we provide CoaXPress and Camera Link cables as well as CXP over Fiber cables and accessories.

CoaXPress cables

We offer high-quality CoaXPress cables with the following connectors:
- HD-BNC to HD-BNC (stock: 3m, 5m, 10m; compatible with CXP-12 hardware)
- DIN to HD-BNC (stock: 3m, 10m)
- BNC to HD-BNC (stock: 3m, 10m; compatible with CXP-12 hardware)
- BNC to BNC (stock: 3m, 10m)
Other lengths are available for higher quantity orders.

CXP over Fiber cables

We offer cables and transceivers for CoaXPress over Fiber systems:
- Fiber Optic Cable Assembly (stock: 3m, 100m)
- Active Optical Cable QSFP+ (AOC) (stock: 10m)
- Direct Attach Copper QSFP+ (DAC) Cable (stock: 1m)
- Optical Transceiver QSFP+
Other lengths are available on request and with a minimum quantity order.

Camera Link cables

We offer high-quality Camera Link cables with the following connectors:
- SDR to SDR (stock: 4m)
- MDR to SDR (stock: 4m)
- MDR to MDR (stock: 3m, 5m).
Other lengths are available for higher quantity orders.

For a detailed description of the cables and order information, please see our product pages for CoaXPress and Camera Link cables and CXP over Fiber accessories.

Camera FAQs

The analog/CVBS output from the Harrier 3G-SDI interface board/camera is located on pins 3 and 4 of the J3 header connector. To get the analog video running, set the camera video to 720p50 (for PAL output) and 720p59.94/60 (for NTSC output). The interface board will downscale the LVDS video from the camera to create the CVBS output video.

There are custom interface VISCA commands for changing the aspect ratio of the video (4:3 or 16:9) and turning the analogue video output on/off. The interface board will also output the 720p SDI video at the same time.
Please check the product documentation and verify that the product is not working correctly.

If this is the case, please e-mail: techsupport@activesilicon.com. Please give the product part number, serial number and date of purchase. Also, add a full description of the setup and the problem. Photographs and videos are usually very helpful.

Our technical support team will work with you to resolve the issue remotely and/or identify the issue and potential cause. If a product is found to be faulty and under warranty, then we will send an RMA number so that you can return the product for repair /replacement under warranty.
For more information, see the Warranty & Repair page.
If this is your first time using an Active Silicon camera product, we advise that you purchase the product evaluation kit, as this contains everything that you need to get the camera up and running without risking damage due to incorrect wiring or connection. Active Silicon Products/evaluation kits come with a QuickStart guide and full product documentation.

Visit the Active Silicon website, locate the webpage for your product, then go to the downloads tab and download the Quickstart guide and any other documents or tools (e.g. HarrierControl) that you may need. If, after this, you are still having trouble, please download and review the “Troubleshooting guide for Harrier camera interface boards”.

If you are still having problems, please contact our support team at techsupport@activesilicon.com directly with the product part number, serial number and a full description of the set-up and the problem.
Latency is influenced by a variety of factors and should be considered carefully, especially in networked cameras. Harrier IP cameras themselves bring very little latency to the video system, as the hardware is latency optimized, and low-latency modes are available.

Find actual measurement data of our Harrier IP camera portfolio in our technical note on Obtaining the lowest latency from your Harrier AF-Zoom IP camera (PDF download). The note also explains where latency is introduced in the system and how to minimize it.
Harrier Cameras

For our Harrier IP cameras, we provide evaluation kits and setup tutorials.

For cameras with Harrier IP camera interface board:
- Evaluation Kit
- Harrier IP Camera Interface Board Quickstart Guide
- Tutorial video (the video explains all parts that are needed for the set-up, the software use and how to control the camera)
For the Harrier 23x AF-Zoom IP 4K Camera:
- Evaluation Kit
- Quickstart guide Harrier 23x AFZ IP 4K
- Tutorial video (the video explains all parts that are needed for the set-up, the software use and how to control the cameras)
Oriole Camera

For an easy setup and evaluation of the Oriole HD-IP Board Camera, follow the quickstart guide.
physically – what items are needed and links to webpages [ Cables: note that USB 3 video requires a 5Gbps connection and hence a 5Gbps (or faster) USB cable from the trouble shooting guide]
refer to the software available
refer to the quick start guide [ mention: the importance of DIP switches set correctly, and using UVC mode – see trouble shooting guide]
Active Silicon camera products are covered by a warranty period of six months from the date of shipment of the Product to the Buyer’s site, as is the usual practice for camera products. All Harrier camera interface boards and BlueBird products have a warranty period of twelve months from the date of shipment of the Product to the Buyer’s site. For all other products, the warranty period will be two years unless otherwise stated.

For more information, see the Warranty and Repair page.
High-Definition Visually Lossless CODEC (HD-VLC™) is an innovative technology developed by Semtech Corporation. It comprises a unique CODEC, which encodes HD data to the same rate as standard definition video and allows for cable lengths of at least 3x that of HD-SDI products.

The advantages of using HD-VLC™ include:
- Visually Lossless HD video transmission over coax cables up to 700m, twisted pair cables up to 150m and fiber optic cables over many kilometers.
- No additional latency is introduced to the system and images are transmitted in real-time.
- Superior image quality.
- Multiple slip rings can be used.
Learn more on our webpage Long-reach HD video transmission.
Active Silicon offers evaluation kits for camera products that include all necessary cables for testing the camera. Certain cables, cable sets, and board camera lenses can be purchased individually.

For each camera product, we list the accessories in the order info on the camera product pages. Find an overview of all accessories and cables on the Accessories & Cables page.