Ok, here is the promised example:
const int NumDriverBuffers = 100;
static void Main()
{
var driverPath = Path.Combine(Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("CVB"), "Drivers", "GenICam.vin");
using (var camera = DriverExtensions.TryOpenWithBufferCount(driverPath, NumDriverBuffers))
{
if (camera == null)
{
Console.WriteLine("Error loading driver: " + driverPath);
return;
}
camera.SetLockModeToOn();
camera.StartAcquisition();
try
{
for (int i = 0; i < 2 * NumDriverBuffers; i++)
{
var image = camera.WaitForNextImage();
// for a real application the tasks should be stored for proper app-exit handling
Task.Run(() =>
{
Parallel.For(0, image.Height, line =>
{
// do something
});
image.Unlock(); // and thus dispose...
});
}
}
finally
{
camera.AbortAcquisition();
}
}
}
And for this you need these helper classes (and the references to iCVCImg.dll and iCVCDriver.dll):
class RingBufferImage : IDisposable
{
private Cvb.Image.IMG _driverImage;
private Cvb.SharedImg _bufferImage;
private int _bufferIndex;
public static RingBufferImage FromCurrent(Cvb.SharedImg driver)
{
if (driver == null)
throw new NullReferenceException(nameof(driver));
return new RingBufferImage(driver, driver.GetCurrentBufferIndex());
}
private RingBufferImage(Cvb.SharedImg driverImage, int bufferIndex)
{
_driverImage = driverImage;
_bufferImage = driverImage.GetBufferImage(bufferIndex);
_bufferIndex = bufferIndex;
}
~RingBufferImage()
{
Dispose(disposing: false);
}
// Simply a readable alias for dispose.
public void Unlock()
{
Dispose();
}
public void Dispose()
{
Dispose(disposing: true);
GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
}
protected virtual void Dispose(bool disposing)
{
if (disposing)
{
_bufferImage?.Dispose();
Cvb.Driver.IRingBuffer.RBUnlock(_driverImage, _bufferIndex);
}
}
public static implicit operator Cvb.Image.IMG(RingBufferImage image)
{
return image._bufferImage;
}
public int Width
{
get { return Cvb.Image.ImageWidth(this); }
}
public int Height
{
get { return Cvb.Image.ImageHeight(this); }
}
}
static class DriverExtensions
{
// Opens a driver with a given number of buffers; null on error.
public static Cvb.SharedImg TryOpenWithBufferCount(string path, int numBuffers)
{
var driver = TryOpen(path);
if (driver == null)
return null;
if (driver.GetBufferCount() == numBuffers)
return driver;
try
{
return driver.CreateWithNewNumberOfBuffers(numBuffers);
}
finally
{
driver.Dispose();
}
}
// Opens a driver; null on error.
public static Cvb.SharedImg TryOpen(string path)
{
Cvb.SharedImg driver;
Cvb.Image.LoadImageFile(path, out driver);
return driver;
}
public static int GetBufferCount(this Cvb.SharedImg driver)
{
if (driver == null)
throw new NullReferenceException(nameof(driver));
if (!Cvb.Driver.IRingBuffer.CanRingBuffer(driver))
throw new InvalidOperationException("Driver image does not support the IRingBuffer interface");
int numBuffers = 0;
Cvb.Image.IMG dummy;
int result = Cvb.Driver.IRingBuffer.RBNumBuffer(driver, Cvb.Driver.IRingBuffer.TRingbufferNumbufferCMD.RINGBUFFER_NUMBUFFER_CMD_GET, ref numBuffers, out dummy);
if (result < 0)
throw new ExternalException("Error getting number of buffers", result);
return numBuffers;
}
public static Cvb.SharedImg CreateWithNewNumberOfBuffers(this Cvb.SharedImg driver, int numBuffers)
{
if (driver == null)
throw new NullReferenceException(nameof(driver));
if (!Cvb.Driver.IRingBuffer.CanRingBuffer(driver))
throw new InvalidOperationException("Driver image does not support the IRingBuffer interface");
Cvb.SharedImg newDriver;
int result = Cvb.Driver.IRingBuffer.RBNumBuffer(driver, Cvb.Driver.IRingBuffer.TRingbufferNumbufferCMD.RINGBUFFER_NUMBUFFER_CMD_SET, ref numBuffers, out newDriver);
if (result < 0)
throw new ExternalException("Error creating new buffer driver image", result);
return newDriver;
}
public static void SetLockModeToOn(this Cvb.SharedImg driver)
{
if (driver == null)
throw new NullReferenceException(nameof(driver));
if (!Cvb.Driver.IRingBuffer.CanRingBuffer(driver))
throw new InvalidOperationException("Driver image does not support the IRingBuffer interface");
var lockModeOn = Cvb.Driver.IRingBuffer.TRingbufferLockmode.RINGBUFFER_LOCKMODE_ON;
int result = Cvb.Driver.IRingBuffer.RBLockMode(driver, Cvb.Driver.IRingBuffer.TRingbufferLockmodeCMD.RINGBUFFER_LOCKMODE_CMD_SET, ref lockModeOn);
if (result < 0)
throw new ExternalException("Error setting lock-mode to: on", result);
}
public static int GetCurrentBufferIndex(this Cvb.SharedImg driver)
{
if (driver == null)
throw new NullReferenceException(nameof(driver));
if (!Cvb.Driver.IRingBuffer.CanRingBuffer(driver))
throw new InvalidOperationException("Driver image does not support the IRingBuffer interface");
int bufferIndex;
int result = Cvb.Driver.IRingBuffer.RBBufferSeq(driver, 0, out bufferIndex);
if (result < 0)
throw new ExternalException("Error getting current buffer index", result);
return bufferIndex;
}
public static Cvb.SharedImg GetBufferImage(this Cvb.SharedImg driver, int bufferIndex)
{
if (driver == null)
throw new NullReferenceException(nameof(driver));
if (!Cvb.Driver.IRingBuffer.CanRingBuffer(driver))
throw new InvalidOperationException("Driver image does not support the IRingBuffer interface");
Cvb.SharedImg bufferImage;
int result = Cvb.Driver.IRingBuffer.RBGetBufferImage(driver, bufferIndex, out bufferImage);
if (result < 0)
throw new ExternalException("Error getting image at buffer index", result);
return bufferImage;
}
public static void StartAcquisition(this Cvb.SharedImg driver)
{
int result = Cvb.Driver.IGrab2.G2Grab(driver);
if (result < 0)
throw new ExternalException("Error starting acquisition", result);
}
public static void AbortAcquisition(this Cvb.SharedImg driver)
{
int result = Cvb.Driver.IGrab2.G2Freeze(driver, kill: true);
if (result < 0)
throw new ExternalException("Error stopping acquisition", result);
}
public static RingBufferImage WaitForNextImage(this Cvb.SharedImg driver)
{
int result = Cvb.Driver.IGrab2.G2Wait(driver);
if (result < 0)
throw new ExternalException("Error waiting for next image", result);
return RingBufferImage.FromCurrent(driver);
}
}
Don’t mix manual 
). If you want to acquire again within your app, it would be faster to not unload the driver. As otherwise you would need to reload everything again from scratch.
)
).