ANY-maze Help > The ANY-maze reference > The Protocol page > The elements of a protocol > Apparatus > Video sources > Setting up a Video Source > The Camera/Digitizer properties window > General information page

General information page

In brief

This page of the Camera/Digitizer properties window shows general information about your camera or digitizer, such as the type of device and the version number of its driver software. In fact this page is also available for video files, where it shows information such as the video's duration, image size and compression ratio.

Details

The information on the general page is self-explanatory except for one thing - for some devices, the page will include an Advanced settings button.

The Advanced settings

Devices which include an advanced settings button support more options than those which are available through the standard properties window - for example, some cameras include the ability to alter their shutter speed.

By clicking the Advanced Settings button, you will open the properties window provided by the camera or digitizer's manufacturer - obviously, the options available will be specific to the device and therefore I can't include details about them. Nevertheless, you might find options such as:

Auto mode

An auto mode is sometimes available on digital cameras and causes the camera to automatically adjust its shutter speed, gain, etc. depending on the lighting conditions. Although auto modes can work well in ANY-maze, they sometimes causes problems because the overall brightness of the picture can change as the picture contents alters. For example, if you enter a picture wearing a white lab coat, the entire picture may automatically be made darker to compensate for the increased white area (your lab coat) now in the image - and as you leave again, the reverse can occur. Such adjustments probably won't affect the tracking, but they can cause ANY-maze to take longer to identify the animal at the start of a test.

Other situations in which auto modes can be unsatisfactory are low light and/or low contrast tracking. In these cases you may find that manual adjustments are better able to maximize the contrast between the animal and apparatus background.

Backlight compensation

If your device supports backlight compensation, then it's best to switch it off in ANY-maze as your animals are unlikely to be backlit. That said, if you have a bright background and a darker animal, then it's sometimes worth experimenting with this setting as it can help to create a more natural image.

Colour controls

As ANY-maze uses black and white images, you can safely ignore any colour controls your device provides. In fact, if it includes an option to provide just black and white images then it's a good idea to switch it on.

Shutter speed / gain

You may find it useful to use controls such as shutter speed, gain or exposure to improve images in low light conditions.

Other options

Feel free to experiment with any other options your device provides.

ANY-maze help topic T0102