What is star light mode?

Star light mode is a function that a CCD camera is able to see clear color images under very low lighting situation such as 0.0002 lux illumination level. 

All CCD sensors are designed  to work on 1/50,1/60 ~1/2000 sec. shutter speed. The minimum illumination level or so called sensitivity is limited on 3 to 6 lux  with a F1.2  lens on 5600k. MINTRON proprietary DSP can drive CCD shutter speed to as low as  1 sec ~10 sec. As a fundamental of physics the longer the shutter open, the more photon the CCD will capture, and it increases 100 ~ 600 times of sensitivity more than legacy cameras.

MINTRON's V series cameras have 4 times of sensitivity on legacy mode more than the cameras of other series. V series cameras multiply light for 128X on star light mode. This brings V series cameras  512 times of sensitivity more than all other cameras on the market. 　 

MINTRON's Jaguar MTV-63W1 is also equipped with a 64X star light mode.  

How to trigger star light mode? Does it turn on automatically ? How do I use  the function?

Users can turn on star light mode( slow shutter frame integration mode ) on model 6318 / 6368 by Dip switch No 8. For advance model,  V and W series such as 63V1 and 63W1, users can turn on  star light mode by OSD screen and interactive push bottom.

If a camera with star light mode that is manipulated as above, when incoming light is getting weak, the camera will automatically increase AGC gain to bring video level back to 100 IRE. After AGC pulls up to maximum but can not maintain 100 IRE, the frame integration feature then will be automatically triggered. The shutter speed will start to drop from 1/60 to 1/30, 1/15, 1/8 1/4 1/2,  1, 2 ,4 ,8 ... and all the way down to 1~10 seconds. Due to manufacturing art of CCD sensors , most of the CCD have too much dark current noise on 64X multiply  or 1 second of shutter speed; hence, 6318 and 6368 have max 64X integration. The new V series camera, 63V1 / 63V0, use a better selected CCD and adaptive noise cancellation circuit. The cameras will multiply up to 128X or 2 seconds slow shutter, so the cameras will have two times of advance sensitivity. V series also has more advanced feature that the PRIORITY of  AGC or SLOW SHUTTER can be programmed by OSD push bottom. 

Shutter Priority:
When shutter priority is selected and lighting level goes down the frame integration, the mode will trigger first to maintain a clean brilliant noise free image with perfect color rendering. After shutter slows down to maximum 128X or  2 seconds and still can not maintain 100 IRE video level, the AGC will turn on to continue to hold the video level on 100 IRE until AGC pulls up  to the maximum ( +32 dB ). The defect of this mode is that when the shutter slows down , the motioned pictures will become blurred in the early stage.

AGC Priority:
When AGC priority is selected and incoming light goes down, the AGC will turn on first and the shutter will maintain on 1/60 or higher (1/50,1/60 ~ 1/120,000 ). Therefore, the motioned pictures will be very good and no blur. However,  the defect of this function is that that when AGC function turns on and gradually pulls up to the maximum, the image will be more noisy and the color will be distorted.

Normally, shutter priority is more often utilized in industry and astronomical fields, especially for steady object observations that the good picture quality is more considerable. On the other hand, AGC priority mode is more often utilized for surveillance, traffic control and military that catching clear motioned pictures is the main purpose.

In the new alpha V series, the output of the CCD is 2 times bigger than the cameras which use normal CCD sensors. Due to this kind of special micro adjustment timing circuit controlled by advance M88 DSP, the sensitivity is naturally 2 times better even it is on 30 frame real time mode. The quality is almost the same as using a SONY EX-View. Therefore, using V series cameras shutter priority mode for the motioned pictures will be 2 times faster, and more action pictures can be sent out. When using AGC priority mode, the noise will naturally decrease to the half.

SONY Ex-View CCD: 
When a SONY Ex-View CCD is used in any legacy camera, the sensitivity on visible light will be 2-time advance. If it is installed in V series cameras. The sensitivity of V series will be 4-time advance on 30 frame real time mode, and the motion and noise will be improved twice as well. However, anything is not able to be perfect. The defect of an Ex-View CCD is that it is twice more expensive than a SONY Super HAD CCD because of fine art of the photo sensors and micro lens. Furthermore, the bad spots on the CCD will increase due to Cosmos Ray bombing ( Claimed by SONY)

As mentioned above, due to nature of physics, humans are not able to satisfy all aspects and have to compromise at least one side.