Skip to content

pylon Software Suite#

The pylon Software Suite offers a collection of drivers and tools for operating any Basler camera. Versions of the suite are available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

pylon Logo

As it is based on GenICam technology, the pylon Software Suite allows you to work with the latest camera models and features.

SDK and APIs#

The pylon Software Suite provides the pylon SDK (software development kit) that includes the following APIs (application programming interfaces):

  • Data Processing C++ API (Windows and Linux)
  • C++ API (Windows, Linux, and macOS)
  • API for .NET languages, e.g., C# and VB.NET, (Windows only)
  • C API (Windows and Linux)

You can access all of the camera's parameters and control the camera's full functionality from within your application software by using the matching pylon API (C++, C, or .NET).

Sample programs illustrate how to use the pylon APIs to parameterize and operate the camera.

Documentation for all APIs is available in the pylon API Documentation section. It gives you an introduction to programming with pylon and provides information about all methods and objects of the respective API.

Configuration Tools#

A set of configuration tools allows you to configure the camera, the interface adapter, and the operating system:

Drivers#

  • The pylon USB3 Vision Driver is fully compliant with the USB3 Vision standard. It enables Basler USB 3.0 cameras to use the full speed and bandwidth of USB 3.0 for image transmission, while reducing resource load and using off-the-shelf hardware components.

  • The pylon GigE Vision Filter Driver is an advanced and robust GigE Vision network driver that is compatible with all network adapters. The advantages of the filter driver are:

    • Extensive compatibility with 1/5/10 Gigabit network adapters
    • Optimizes and lowers the CPU load caused by network traffic between the computer and the cameras
    • Very robust packet resend mechanisms

    This driver is available for Windows only. For best performance and reliability, Basler recommends using the filter driver in combination with the pylon GigE Configurator.

  • The pylon GigE Vision Socket Driver is not a real driver, but uses the Socket API of the given operating system, e.g., Windows, Linux, or macOS, to communicate with cameras instead. The advantage of the socket driver is that it doesn't need any installation and is compatible with all 1/5/10 Gigabit network adapters. The socket driver has very robust packet resend mechanisms.
    For best performance and reliability, Basler recommends using the filter driver in combination with the pylon GigE Configurator.

  • The pylon GigE Vision Performance Driver (deprecated in pylon version 7.1) is a hardware-specific GigE Vision network driver. The performance driver is only compatible with 1 Gigabit network adapters that use compatible chipsets. The advantage of the performance driver is that it lowers the CPU load caused by network traffic between the computer and the cameras. It also has a robust packet resend mechanism. This driver is available for Windows only.
  • The pylon BCON I²C Driver Adapter (Linux only, deprecated in pylon version 6.3) can be used to develop software for embedded systems. pylon provides the driver's source code as well as a compiled binary file. It can be used as-is, but you can also write your own adapter by implementing the BCON Adapter API.
  • The pylon Camera Link Configuration Driver (Windows only) gives you access to all camera parameters of Basler's Camera Link cameras.
  • The pylon CXP Interface Driver (not available for macOS) allows you to use Basler's CoaXPress cameras.

System Requirements#

  • x86_64 CPU: Latest Intel Core i5 (or better) or equivalent.
  • aarch64 CPU: Armv8-A with AArch64 support. ARM processors used on NVIDIA Jetson modules (or better) or equivalent are recommended.
  • Memory: Minimum 4 GB of available RAM. 8 GB or more of available RAM are recommended.
  • Disk type: SSD is recommended.
  • Disk space: Minimum 2 GB of free disk space for installation.

Info

Depending on the following aspects, higher system requirements may be necessary:

  • Number of cameras used
  • Resolution and/or acquisition frame rate of the camera
  • Types or number of vTools used

Installation (Windows)#

→ See Software Installation (Windows)

Documentation#

You can access the Basler Product Documentation directly from the suite's various tools.

In the pylon Viewer, you can get context-sensitive help. If you need more information about a parameter or want to know more about your camera model, select the desired item in the Devices or the Features pane and open the documentation by pressing F1 or right-clicking and then clicking Get Help.

The Help menu also gives you access to the pylon Deployment Guide, the pylon SDK Samples Manual, the pylon API documentation, and the C++ Data Processing Programmer's Guide.