A Comparative Evaluation of the Fast Optical Pulse Response of Event-Based Cameras
Abstract
Event cameras use biologically inspired readout circuit architecture to offer a faster and more efficient method of imaging than traditional frame-based detectors. The asynchronous event reporting circuit timestamps events to 1 microsecond resolution, but latency increases when many pixels are stimulated simultaneously. To characterize this variability, the DAVIS240, DAVIS346, DVXPlorer, and Prophesee Gen3M VGA-CD 1.1 cameras were exposed to single step-function flashes with amplitudes from 9.3-771cd/m2, stimulating from 0.0042-100 of pixels. The Median Absolute Deviation of pixel response times ranged between 0 and 6086s, increasing with the percent of pixels stimulated (PSP). The number of events generated per pixel generally decreased with increasing PSP, with all cameras producing fewer than 59 events per pixel. Surprisingly, as stimulus amplitude increased, the DVXPlorer generated fewer events, to as low as 0.32 events per stimulus. Short-term throughput exceeded advertised limits in 3 of 4 cameras. While individual pixels may be able to accurately detect microsecond-scale change data bottlenecks can cause missed events or erroneous timestamps.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 08, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1129088
Entities
People
- Tyler J. Brewer
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology