Getting Started

This section covers the full bring-up: connecting the camera, linking the board to the host, powering it on, and confirming that the host has enumerated the camera as a UVC device.

Prerequisites

Hardware

LVDS – USB 3.0 Interface BoardRequired

Sony FCB-EV9500L or FCB-EV9520L LVDS block cameraRequired

30-pin micro-coax LVDS cableRequired

Certified USB 3.0 Type-C to Type-A cableRequired

12 V / 2 A regulated DC supplyRequired

Windows 10 / 11 or Linux (Ubuntu 20.04 or later) host with a USB 3.0 portRequired

Verify Camera Detection

Confirm that the host has created the video and control nodes before opening a viewer.

Linux

lsusb

The board appears in the device list as a USB video-class device. Then check the V4L2 nodes:

sudo apt install v4l-utils

v4l2-ctl --list-devices

The board is listed as FX3 CAMERA, with its nodes grouped under it:

FX3 CAMERA: FX3 CAMERA (usb-0000:00:14.0-1):
        /dev/video2
        /dev/video3
        /dev/media1
 
Integrated_Webcam_HD: Integrate (usb-0000:00:14.0-2):
        /dev/video0
        /dev/video1
        /dev/media0

Node	Type
`/dev/video2`	Video capture — the live stream
`/dev/video3`	Metadata capture — UVC frame metadata, no image

Note

The first node is normally the video stream and the second is the metadata node, which carries no image. If a viewer opens the first node but shows no picture, try the other one.

Warning

Node numbers depend on what else is connected. In the listing above the host's built-in webcam already holds /dev/video0 and /dev/video1, so the board's nodes appear as /dev/video2 and /dev/video3. Always read the numbers from under the FX3 CAMERA entry rather than assuming /dev/video0.

The control nodes appear alongside them:

ls /dev/ttyACM*

/dev/ttyACM0  /dev/ttyACM1

Two serial nodes are created — one carries VISCA camera control, the other carries debug output from the onboard USB controller.

Windows

Open Device Manager. The board appears in two places — once as a camera, and once as a pair of serial ports:

Section	Entry
Cameras	`FX3 CAMERA`
Ports (COM & LPT)	`USB Serial Device (COM27)` and `USB Serial Device (COM28)`

FX3 CAMERA and COM ports in Windows Device Manager

Note

One of the two COM ports carries VISCA camera control and the other carries debug output. If commands sent to one port have no effect, use the other.

Warning

COM port numbers are assigned by Windows and differ from host to host — COM27 and COM28 above are only an example. Read the actual numbers from Device Manager before sending VISCA commands.