8.Features
© China Daheng Group, Inc. Beijing Image Vision Technology Branch 135
Horizontal Binning is the processing of pixels in adjacent rows.
Vertical Binning is the processing of pixels in adjacent columns.
Binning factor 1: Disable Binning.
Binning factor 2, 4: Indicate the number of rows or columns to be processed.
For example, the horizontal Binning factor 2 indicates that the Binning is enabled in the horizontal direction,
and the pixels of two adjacent rows are processed.
Binning Modes
The Binning mode defines how pixels are combined when Binning is enabled. Two types of the Binning
mode are available: Sum and Average.
Sum: The values of the affected pixels are summed and then output as one pixel. This improves the signal-
to-noise ratio, but also increases the camera's response to light.
Average: The values of the affected pixels are averaged. This greatly improves the signal-to-noise ratio
without affecting the camera's response to light.
Considerations when Using Binning
1) Effect on ROI settings
When Binning is used, the value of the current ROI of the image, the maximum ROI of the image, the auto
function ROI, and the auto white balance ROI will change. The changed value is the original value (the
value before the setting) divided by the Binning factor.
For example, assume that you are using a camera with a 1200 x 960 sensor. Horizontal Binning by 2 and
vertical Binning by 2 are enabled. In this case, the maximum ROI width is 600 and the maximum ROI
height is 480.
2) Increased response to light
Using Binning with the Binning mode set to
Sum
can significantly increase the camera's response to light.
When pixel values are summed, the acquired images may look overexposed. If this is the case, you can
reduce the lens aperture, the intensity of your illumination, the camera's exposure time setting, or the
camera's gain setting.
3) Possible image distortion
Objects will only appear undistorted in the image if the numbers of binned rows and columns are equal.
With all other combinations, objects will appear distorted. For example, if you combine vertical Binning by
2 with horizontal Binning by 4, the target objects will appear squashed.
4) Mutually exclusive with Decimation
Binning and Decimation cannot be used simultaneously in the same direction. When the horizontal Binning
value is set to a value other than 1, the horizontal Decimation feature cannot be used. When the vertical
Binning value is set to a value other than 1, the vertical Decimation feature cannot be used.
