Gain and Black Level

Gain and Black Level are used to adjust the responsivity of the sensor. Those features can be found in the Sensor Controls category.

Gain

Keep in mind that digital noise increases when gain is increased. Users should evaluate image quality with added gain. Also note that the Gain and Gain (Raw) features are linked: changing one will adjust the other automatically.

• Gain Selector = Sensor Analog: The gain is a linear function applied by an analog amplifier on the sensor.

• Gain Selector = Digital: The gain is a linear function applied by a digital amplifier after the sensor, on the FPGA. This gain factor is independent of the sensor gain.

• Gain: Has a value range of 1 – 4. The input value will be adjusted to the closest valid Gain (Raw) value.

• Gain (Raw): Controls a device-specific value range with unit increments.

Black Level

The Black Level feature is a DC offset applied to the sensor output image. The factory default value for each model is the recommended setting by the sensor manufacturer. Testing a camera’s black output in 8-bit mode may show a 2 DN value difference across the image. Changing the Black Level value up or down will push sensor noise (present at the sensors native bits per pixel) to fall within one 8-bit value, thus the noise becomes hidden.