New features of the photo finish software

Optimised lens power management – Lens Power Management

In some photo finish systems, motorised lenses are permanently powered on. Besides increasing energy consumption, this gradually wears out the lens's internal components and shortens its service life. This new feature allows full control of the lens power supply from the software. The operator can switch off the lens power when it is not in use and switch it back on when needed. After the first version of this system was designed, electronic switching of the lens power supply was added to the hardware in the company's newer versions.

Benefits

✔ Longer lens life

✔ Lower risk of failure of the lens's focus and aperture motor control board

✔ Lower energy consumption

✔ Greater long-term system reliability

Smart autofocus system – Intelligent Auto Focus System

Correct focus is one of the most important factors in the quality of photo finish images. Even the smallest focusing error can affect the quality of judging and the determination of placings. Using an image sharpness analysis algorithm, this system evaluates focus quality in real time and displays the result on a colour bar (red, yellow and green). The operator can adjust the focus manually or fully automatically.

Benefits

✔ Fast achievement of the best possible focus

✔ Less reliance on operator experience

✔ Prevents out-of-focus images from being recorded

✔ Higher-quality race images

✔ Faster system set-up before races

Advanced image enhancement package – Advanced Image Enhancement Suite

Image quality has a direct impact on the speed and accuracy of judging. This package provides the system with a set of image processing algorithms to produce the best possible quality under different lighting conditions.

Features

Removal of salt-and-pepper and ambient noise, automatic enhancement of night images, automatic colour correction for day and night conditions, adjustable Black Point and White Point

Gamma optimisation, smart colour saturation control, improved image sharpness and legibility

Benefits

✔ Higher-quality race output

✔ Better system performance in poor lighting

✔ Less need for manual image correction (just one click)

✔ Sharper detail at the moment of crossing the finish line

✔ More professional images for judging and archiving

Smart Auto Record and participant detection system – Intelligent Auto Record & Competitor Detection

This is one of the software's most advanced features and largely automates the race recording process. As soon as competitors enter the race zone, the software automatically starts recording. The empty gaps between competitors, which usually take up a large part of the photo finish image, are then removed, and all competitors are displayed in a compact, orderly and highly legible view. In many races, a large part of the photo finish image consists of empty space between the horses. By intelligently removing these gaps, this feature produces an image focused on the moment of crossing the finish line, enabling judges to review and compare results much more quickly and accurately.

Benefits

✔ Eliminates errors caused by the operator forgetting to start recording

✔ Less need for constant operator supervision

✔ Saves judging time

✔ Displays all competitors in a single frame

✔ Reduces storage and archive space

✔ More legible photo finish images

✔ Faster announcement of race results

✔ Suitable for large-field and professional races