BeamGage Produces Five Different Industry Standard File Types

The .bgData file format contains the processed image output from BeamGage. The .bgData file formatting follows standard HDF5 formatting rules. The HDF5 format is compatible with many third party applications, one of which is MATLAB. See the following web link to learn more about the HDF5 format. http://www.hdfgroup.org/HDF5/

Regarding the .bgData image file decription; the input camera native source may be 8, 10, 12, 14, or 16 bits per pixel. BeamGage employs a normalized (signed 32-bit) fixed point format for storing pixel values in HDF5 data files. The acquired and processed camera pixel data is converted to a 32-bit signed value and stored. The most significant bit of the camera’s native data is shifted to the bit position just behind the sign bit (assuming bit positions 0 [lsb] -31 [msb] this would be position 30). The empty bits below the native format are then available for additional precision and will be utilized via frame averaging, background subtraction, or other image processing activities.

This format has several advantages. One key advantage is that frame averaging or baseline subtraction will allow the lower order bits to be populated with fractional values thus allowing greater precision.

In addition to the file types produced by BeamGage, it can also export and/or log data or results (as applicable) to various picture formats and ASCII data format, as well as HDF5 format.