RE: Are USB3 Vision cameras any better than GigE Vision cameras?

[Mark Rivers via Tech-talk <tech-talk@aps.anl.gov>]

> That's something we don't have. I'm curious to know if Mark Rivers needs these on his cameras as well.

Most of my cameras are about 50-55C.  I don't do anything special to cool them, i.e. no fan or heat sink.  Sometimes I wrap them in lead to reduce radiation.  That makes them run a bit hotter, but I have not seen a problem.

I use mainly FLIR and Allied Vision cameras.

Mark



-----Original Message-----
From: Henrique F. Simoes <henrique.simoes@lnls.br> 
Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2025 12:33 PM
To: Engbretson, Mark S. <engbretson@anl.gov>; Mark Rivers <rivers@cars.uchicago.edu>
Cc: Ana Clara de Souza Oliveira <ana.clara@lnls.br>; tech-talk@aps.anl.gov
Subject: Re: Are USB3 Vision cameras any better than GigE Vision cameras?

Hi Mark,

On Mon Aug 25, 2025 at 1:14 PM -03, Engbretson, Mark S. wrote:
> A common issue on both of these cameras are overheating, especially 
> with PoE GigE models - but I have seen the same problems with USB3 
> models.

Okay. It makes sense to happen to both of them.

> In that case, both types of hardware jam or drop offline throwing led 
> blinks patterns that basically show an issue.

One problem is that most cameras we have deployed, which are Basler acA1300-75gm, don't have a status LED. When they are online, we can query their TemperatureStatus GenICam feature to see if it is "Error", "Critical" or "OK", or their internal temperature measurement. I haven't seen any of them change their status before going offline; although we still have a pending task to monitor this more thoroughly.

> You either then have to put more active cooling in (like a fan), or a 
> mount that actively sinks heat.

That's something we don't have. I'm curious to know if Mark Rivers needs these on his cameras as well.

I cannot forget John Dobbins' comment about thermal connection of some models [1], which made myself question what's the best way to cool them if that's really our main issue.

> While I have seen some units seem to work at 80 degrees C,

The ones we use are supposed to reach almost that temperature level without failing; they seem to keep below their limit as I've mentioned in the other thread [2].

> other seem to start falling offline at slightly over 50 C.

Do these signal they are falling offline because of temperature as well?

> Not sure that I have even seen issues when the temps are kept below 50 
> C.

What is the average temperature in this case?

Thanks for your comments ;)

[1] epics.anl.gov/tech-talk/2025/msg00639.php
[2] epics.anl.gov/tech-talk/2025/msg00638.php

--
Henrique F. Simões
Control Software Group (SwC)
Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS) Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM)

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