May 31, 2012 – Richmond, BC, Canada – Point Grey, one of the world’s largest and most innovative providers of high performance digital cameras for industrial, bioscience, traffic, and GIS applications, today announced the addition of a yet another new model to its popular line of Flea3 USB 3.0 cameras. This new Flea3 model combines the benefits of CMOS and global shutter technology in a low-cost, ultra-compact package.
Compared to CCD, CMOS eliminates blooming, smearing, and consumes less power at higher frame rates. When combined with global shutter readout, the new FL3-U3-13Y3M-C delivers 1280 x 1024 distortion-free images of fast-moving objects at 150 FPS (8-bit) over USB 3.0. This new Flea3 model incorporates an On Semi ½" VITA 1300 monochrome sensor featuring 4.8 micron square pixels.
The ultra-compact Flea3 measures just 29 x 29 x 30mm and provides a unique set of features dedicated to maximizing USB 3.0 reliability, including a 32 megabyte frame buffer for image retransmission; on-camera power, temperature, and status monitoring; and in-field updatable firmware. The camera also provides fixed pattern noise correction; look up tables; gamma correction; binning; and region of interest speed up. Unlike other manufacturers, Point Grey has developed its own USB 3.0 link layer IP which is implemented in an FPGA. Without dependence on third-party chip vendors, Point Grey has complete control over the camera’s core technology providing the ability to respond faster to customer feature requests and provide better customer service.
"This new Flea3 is an ideal solution for low cost, high speed inspection systems where distortion has traditionally been an issue," explains Michael Gibbons, Director of Sales and Marketing. "3D imaging and eye tracking would also benefit from this CMOS model and benefit from high frame rate at high resolution in a compact USB 3.0 package" adds Mr. Gibbons.
The Flea3 FL3-U3-13Y3M-C (monochrome only) model is list priced at USD $825 and is available to order now from Point Grey and its network of distributors.
About Point Grey
Point Grey Research, Inc. is a worldwide leader in the development of advanced digital camera technology products for machine vision, industrial imaging, computer vision, and traffic and surveillance applications. Based in Richmond, BC, Canada, Point Grey designs, manufactures and distributes USB 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet, and IEEE-1394 (FireWire) cameras that are known for their excellent quality, performance, and ease of use. A broad range of hardware, software and mechanical engineering skills has allowed Point Grey to successfully bring many innovative and ground-breaking products to market. This drive for innovation has led to many industry firsts, including the world’s first and smallest 1394b digital camera, the smallest GigE camera and the first and smallest USB 3.0 machine vision camera.
Since its founding in January of 1997, the company’s approach to product pricing, quality control, and customer service has attracted thousands of customers worldwide, and its organic growth through product sales has enabled the company to expand significantly without any outside investment. Point Grey currently employs more than 130 people worldwide and has a wholly-owned German subsidiary that provides sales and support services to customers in Europe, Africa and Israel. The company also has a strong network of distributors in Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, Taiwan, United Kingdom and Ireland. For more information, visit www.ptgrey.com