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Monochrome sensors have pixel formats starting with "Mono" followed by the bit depth ("8", "10", "12") and the optional packed indicator ("p").
If a color sensor is used with a mono PixelFormat, the RAW Bayer information is first transferred into a color format (see Color filter (Bayer filter)) and then the monochrome values are derived as brightness component of the color values.
The pixels are read out row-wise left to right, then top to bottom.
Fig. 27: Readout sequence of a mono image: row-wise left to right, then top to bottom
Data representation
"Mono8" has a bit depth of 8 bit and is byte aligned. Each pixel fills a byte. "Mono10" and "Mono12" need two bytes for each pixel, where 6 or 4 bits of every second byte are unused. With the packed formats "Mono10p" and "Mono12p", there are no such empty bits. Each pixel starts directly after the other. This means that the alignment gets lost, but data is much denser packed. A "Mono10p" packed image needs only 1.25 bytes per pixel, whereas a "Mono10" unpacked image needs 2 bytes per pixel. A "Mono12p" packed images needs 1.5 bytes per pixel, compared to 2 bytes per pixel for a "Mono12" unpacked image.
Fig. 28: Data representation of monochrome pixel formats
Pixel format |
Type |
Pixel color filter |
Bit depth |
Unused bits |
Packed |
Grouped |
Data size per pixel |
2nd row starting with |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mono8 |
mono |
none |
8 |
- |
- |
- |
1 byte = 8 bit |
byte n |
Mono10 |
mono |
none |
10 |
6 of 16 |
n |
n |
2 byte = 16 bit |
byte 2n |
Mono12 |
mono |
none |
12 |
4 of 16 |
n |
n |
2 byte = 16 bit |
byte 2n |
Mono10p |
mono |
none |
10 |
- |
y |
n |
1.25 byte = 10 bit |
byte 5n/4 |
Mono12p |
mono |
none |
12 |
- |
y |
n |
1.5 byte = 12 bit |
byte 3n/2 |
Mono10g40* |
mono |
none |
10 |
- |
y |
y |
1.25 byte = 10 bit |
byte 5n/4 |
Mono12g24* |
mono |
none |
12 |
- |
y |
y |
1.5 byte = 12 bit |
byte 3n/4 |
* The pixel format name is followed by "IDS", e. g. Mono10g40IDS. This pixel format is preliminary and its name and value may change in a future product version.