CinePlex v3 Manual - Plexon Inc

C.3 Experiment Design
C.3.1 Field of View
The field of view (what the sensor of the camera sees) depends on the distance
between the camera and the surface and the angles of view of the lens that is used
with the camera. The cameras supplied by Plexon generate screen images that are
4 units wide by 3 units high as shown by the diagram below. This aspect ratio corresponds
to the sensor image size of 640 by 480 pixels.
Orient the camera to the experimental area to take maximum advantage of the
rectangular field of view. As shown in the following illustration, the 4:3 ratio corresponds
to a horizontal dimension (H) that is 1.33 times the vertical dimension
(V).
When the camera is placed so that it is directed towards the experimental area, it
has a horizontal angle of view and a different vertical angle of view because of
the aspect ratio described above. The image producing sensor in the camera is
also rectangular in the same proportion. So the ideal experimental layout will
have a rectangular 4:3 arena with the camera aligned so that its longer (horizontal)
sensor dimension is parallel to the arena’s long side. Actual arenas may not be
Version 3.0 C-5