How A SIM Framing Camera Captures Events Too Fast For Video
Some scientific and engineering events happen so quickly that conventional video cameras can struggle to capture the level of detail researchers need. An event may begin and finish in just a few millionths or billionths of a second, leaving little time for a conventional camera to record what’s happening.
In this type of testing, SIM cameras provide a specialist alternative to continuous high-speed video. Rather than relying on continuous recording, these high speed framing cameras capture a series of individual images at precisely controlled intervals. This allows engineers and researchers to examine extremely fast events one stage at a time.
Why Conventional Video Can Miss Ultra-Fast Events
A video camera records images at a particular frame rate. The faster the frame rate, the more images it can capture in a given period. However, there is still a limit to how closely together those images can be recorded. Important movement can occur between frames, leaving researchers without the information they need.
A framing camera takes a different approach. Instead of attempting to record a continuous sequence over a longer period, it concentrates on capturing carefully timed individual images of the event.
What Is A High Speed Framing Camera?
A framing camera is designed to capture a sequence of individual images of extremely fast events. These images can then be viewed in sequence, effectively slowing down an event that happened too quickly to observe directly.
The timing between images is critical. Modern framing cameras can provide extremely precise control over when each image is captured, allowing researchers to design an imaging sequence around the event they need to study.
How A SIM Camera Captures Individual Images
A SIM camera uses multiple optical channels to capture separate images rather than recording one continuous video stream.
The SIMX, for example, can capture up to 16 high-resolution images using discrete intensified optical channels. The SIMD uses a duplex configuration and can capture up to 32 images. Both systems can operate at capture speeds of up to 1 billion frames per second.
The camera uses carefully timed image captures to record selected moments within an extremely fast event. This helps researchers understand what happened at a particular instant, how an object changed between two moments, and how quickly a physical process developed.
Why Discrete Image Capture Matters
Discrete image capture gives researchers much greater control over the timing of an experiment. Researchers may want to capture one image immediately before a change occurs, another during the change and several more as the event develops.
By controlling the delay between each exposure, they can create a sequence that matches the behaviour being investigated.
Capturing Clearer Images During Extreme Events
Speed alone isn’t enough. Researchers also need images that contain enough detail to support meaningful analysis.
Motion blur can make it difficult to determine the exact position, shape or movement of an object. A very short exposure can help reduce this problem by limiting the amount of movement recorded during each image.
SIMX and SIMD systems provide adjustable exposure down to three nanoseconds, along with adjustable gain to help capture challenging, fast-moving phenomena. The result can be a sequence of individual images that shows changes much more clearly than a longer exposure might.
Where SIM Cameras Are Used
A SIM camera can be useful in research areas where events happen too quickly for conventional imaging systems.
Applications include:
- Ballistics and projectile research
- Detonation and energetic materials research
- Combustion studies
- Impact testing
- Failure and crack propagation research
- Materials testing
- Plasma and related high-speed phenomena
- Spray and particle analysis
- Nanotechnology and micro-machines
These applications all have something in common. Researchers need to understand changes that can happen extremely quickly and often need more than a single image to understand the process.
Framing Camera Data Can Support Detailed Analysis
The value of a framing camera isn’t limited to simply producing impressive images. The captured images can provide useful data for understanding how an event develops.
Researchers can compare the position, shape and movement of objects between individual frames. Depending on the application, image data can also support measurements and techniques such as digital image correlation.
Timing is particularly important. If researchers know precisely when each image was captured, they can relate changes in the images to the physical process taking place. This can make the resulting data more useful for validating models, investigating unexpected behaviour and improving understanding of complex physical events.
If you need to capture an event that’s too fast for conventional video, contact the Specialised Imaging team to discuss your application and determine whether a SIM camera or high speed framing camera is the most suitable approach for your research.
