Unusual folly

fivemack · 2013-04-25, 16:03

I have just bought a camera.

It has a 240x180 sensor, a fixed-focal-length 29mm lens, and cost 50% more than any other camera I've ever bought.

However, it takes pictures in the 7.5-13.5um infra-red. I can watch deer in the dark and rabbits glowing in the hedges, I can readily determine which gardens have a hedgehog, I can try long integration to see what the sky looks like, I can offer insulation consultancy services.

It has (for bizarre archaic reasons) a PAL output; where do I look for a cheap device for turning a PAL input into JPEG files on an SD card?

A 10MHz ADC is probably enough, the signal processing after that would be interesting CV fodder, but I'm not sure I've got devices with a usable 10MHz 8-bit digital input; I'd have thought that a 10MHz ADC connecting as a USB2 device would be a standard item of commerce, but it seems not.

TObject · 2013-04-25, 16:32

Since PAL is a video standard, you probably need some way to watch the video first before you decide which frame to convert into JPEG.

I would look for a video capture card that supports PAL, to get the video in the computer first, and then do whatever you want with it.

A really cheap alternative could be some old camera off eBay that can take PAL signal on one end, and output it in digital form through FireWire.

2013-04-25, 16:03	#1
fivemack (loop (#_fork)) Feb 2006 Cambridge, England 6382₁₀ Posts	Unusual folly I have just bought a camera. It has a 240x180 sensor, a fixed-focal-length 29mm lens, and cost 50% more than any other camera I've ever bought. However, it takes pictures in the 7.5-13.5um infra-red. I can watch deer in the dark and rabbits glowing in the hedges, I can readily determine which gardens have a hedgehog, I can try long integration to see what the sky looks like, I can offer insulation consultancy services. It has (for bizarre archaic reasons) a PAL output; where do I look for a cheap device for turning a PAL input into JPEG files on an SD card? A 10MHz ADC is probably enough, the signal processing after that would be interesting CV fodder, but I'm not sure I've got devices with a usable 10MHz 8-bit digital input; I'd have thought that a 10MHz ADC connecting as a USB2 device would be a standard item of commerce, but it seems not. Last fiddled with by fivemack on 2013-04-25 at 16:04

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2013-04-25, 16:32	#2
TObject Feb 2012 3⁴·5 Posts	Since PAL is a video standard, you probably need some way to watch the video first before you decide which frame to convert into JPEG. I would look for a video capture card that supports PAL, to get the video in the computer first, and then do whatever you want with it. A really cheap alternative could be some old camera off eBay that can take PAL signal on one end, and output it in digital form through FireWire.