pylon: GigE Vision Systems for Real Time and High Performance

Requirements for full system performance

• Cable: Cat-6 S/FTP or S/STP, tested industrial quality 

• Network card: Intel i210, i340, i350 or newer (with current driver) 

• Switch: Managed / PoE-capable; Gigabit

• Software: pylon Viewer installed; admin rights available 

• Network: Camera on dedicated NIC, not parallel to WLAN / internet 

Below you will find out which parameters you can set to maximize the performance of the vision setup in pylon.

Configuring GigE Vision cameras 

For GigE Vision cameras, the Bandwidth Manager offers an Optimize function that automatically adjusts the Packet Size and Inter-Packet Delay (IPD). This allows multiple cameras to be operated efficiently via one adapter - particularly important when using a switch. Manual fine-tuning in the pylon Viewer (Feature Tree → Transport Layer):

• Packet Size (GevSCPSPacketSize): As large as possible → maximum efficiency 

• Inter-Packet Delay (GevSCPD): Small pauses between packets → prevents drops in multi-camera setups 

• Frame Transmission Delay (GevSCFTD): Useful for synchronous triggering 

• Device Link Throughput Limit: Limit the bandwidth per camera → avoid conflicts 

Demo: tuning options for camera parameters

The video explains how to set the mentioned camera parameters in the pylon Viewer. Go to the Features All tree and select Controlling the frame rate under Common Tasks. These and additional parameters are located in the Transport Layer section

Optimize Windows (NIC & system) 

Goal: reduce latency, avoid image loss.

Recommended settings in the NIC driver:

• Jumbo Packet / MTU: To 9014 bytes (or maximum possible size) 

• Receive Buffers / Descriptors: Increase, e.g. to 2048 

• Interrupt Moderation Rate (ITR): High (3,600) or low for low latency 

Additionally in pylon:

• Increase GrabLoopThreadPriority and InternalGrabEngineThreadPriority (25-30) 

Success control:
30-60 seconds continuous stream → Failed Buffer = 0 

Demo: tuning options for the NIC

On a Windows PC, make sure that you have a server network card that supports all the parameters mentioned above (Jumbo Frames, IMR, Receive Descriptors). To configure these settings, right click the GigE adapter in Network Connections > select Configure > open the Advanced tab and adjust the parameters as needed. The video guides you through the settings in pylon and in the pylon Viewer.

Optimize Linux (NIC & system) 

Goal: stable streams even with high bandwidth.

Command examples:

# Activate jumbo frames
sudo ifconfig eth0 mtu 8192

# Increase ring buffer
sudo ethtool -G ethX rx 4096 tx 4096

# Interrupt moderation: low latency
sudo ethtool -C ethX adaptive-rx off adaptive-tx off rx-usecs 62 tx-usecs 62

# Increase UDP buffer
sudo sysctl -w net.core.rmem_max=4096000 

pylon settings:

• ReceiveThreadPriority: Increase (e.g. > 50, max. 99) 

• Increase SocketBufferSize: Augment (e.g. ≥ 2048 KB) 

Demo: tuning options for GigE Vision setups

In the demo, you will learn how to set the various parameters in pylon so that the system runs optimally and stably.

The setup consists of a Linux PC with Ubuntu, a GigE camera, a NIC, and the pylon software.

Go to the Features All tree and select Checking whether the camera is losing image data as the Common Task. You will find the parameters in the Stream Parameters entry.

Multi-camera setup 

Multiple cameras via one switch are possible - but require data serialization. 

Option 1 - Bandwidth Manager:

• Click on Optimize → automatic distribution of packet size, IPD, and FTD 

Option 2 - Manual tuning:

• IPD: Packet duration × (N-1) → prevents collisions 

• FTD: Define start delay per camera for synchronous triggering 

Goal: All streams run stable, no failed buffers. 

Demo: tuning options for multi-camera systems

Here you can find out how to make the settings in the pylon Viewer and the pylon Bandwidth Manager for two cameras and an unmanaged switch so that all cameras transmit their image with the maximum available bandwidth.

Go to the Features All tree and select Controlling the frame rate as the Common Task. The cameras can be configured automatically in the Transport Layer entry.

Troubleshooting & success monitoring 

Use the pylon Statistics to identify bottlenecks immediately: 

• Failed Buffer Count: At least one packet lost in the frame 

• Buffer Underrun Count: Too little buffer available 

Typical errors & solutions:

• 0xE1000014 (buffer incomplete): Adjust IPD or packet size 

• 0xE1000016 (control channel disconnected): Check cable / NIC / switch 

• Many Failed Buffers: Increase UDP Buffer or SocketBufferSize

Optimized GigE Vision systems

The performance and reliability of a GigE Vision system always depends on several levels that must interact optimally.

• Robust hardware: Use tested industrial components - High-quality cables, high-performance network cards and suitable switches are the basis for stable data transmission.

• Set camera parameters correctly to ensure efficient and loss free image transmission, even in multi-camera setups. Use the largest possible Packet Size, along with an appropriate Inter Packet Delay (IPD) and, if needed, a Frame Transmission Delay (FTD).

• Optimize pylon& system settings: Adjust Buffer Sizes, increase Thread Priorities, and correctly set network parameters (e.g. Jumbo Frames, Socket Buffer Size) to ensure that your computer can process the high data rates reliably.

If all three areas are taken into account, your pylon based GigE Vision system works with maximum stability, minimum latency, and high performance reserves - both under Windows and Linux.