Which camera driver should I use?

We provide a number of different device drivers that allow you to control your camera across many different operating systems. This article is designed to help you decide which driver to use with your camera, based on camera interface, operating system and general application requirements. This article applies to single lens imaging products only. 

Use either of the following methods to determine your camera’s driver information:

• Use Windows Device Manager. "Using Windows Device Manager to determine software and driver versions" outlines the steps for this method.
• Use camera controls.
  • For Spinnaker, use SpinView.
    1. Start SpinView: Start Menu→ Teledyne Spinnaker SDK → SpinView.
    2. From the Devices list, select the camera and click the Switch Driver button.
  • For FlyCapture, use the DriverControlGui.Start Menu → All Programs → Point Grey FlyCapture2 SDK → Utilities → Driver Control GUI.

Driver and Operating System Compatibility

The following tables list all compatible operating systems and their compatibility with different drivers and interfaces.

For Spinnaker SDK

These operating systems are compatible with the following drivers.

For FlyCapture2 SDK

• Configurations marked with a (•) are supported. Those marked with an (x) are not supported.
• 1394a and 1394b refer to the type of FireWire OHCI host adapter card. It is possible to use 1394a/1394b cameras on either type of card (1394b devices will not be able to run faster than S400 on a 1394a bus).
• The performance of 1394 devices may decrease after installing Windows XP SP2/SP3. "Performance of 1394 devices" provides more details and suggests some solutions.
• PGRxHCI has not been tested with Windows XP SP1/SP2.
• PGRxHCI is not recommended for on-board host controllers (for example, Intel or AMD).
• On Linux systems, our cameras work directly with native Linux drivers.