Disclaimer: This description is completely unofficial, Epson even does not know about its existance. Most of the informaion presented here is discovered by me, Eugene Crosser, while snooping the serial line and by trial and error. I never had an official protocol description, have never seen any related software source code, and have never done reverse engineering of any related software. This description may be incomplete, inaccurate or completely wrong. You are warned.Some information is taken from `camediaplay' package by Jun-ichiro Itoh <itojun@itojun.org>, from the findings of Thierry Bousch <bousch%linotte.uucp@topo.math.u-psud.fr> TsuruZoh Tachibanaya <tsuruzoh@butaman.ne.jp> and from other (open) sources and not checked by me.
| Initialization Byte | NUL | 0x00 |
| Action Complete Notification | ENQ | 0x05 |
| Positive Achnowledgement | ACK | 0x06 |
| Unable to Execute Command | DC1 | 0x11 |
| Negative Acknowledgement, also Camera Signature |
NAK | 0x15 |
| Packet | Variable length sequence of bytes | |
| Termination Byte | 0xff | |
| Offset | Length | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | Packet type |
| 1 | 1 | Packet subtype/sequence |
| 2 | 2 | Length of data |
| 4 | variable | Data |
| -2 | 2 | checksum |
Known packet types are:
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| 0x02 | Data packet that is not last in sequence |
| 0x03 | Data packet that is last in sequence |
| 0x1b | Command packet |
Data packets that are sent in responce to a single command are numbered starting from zero. If all requested data fits in one packet, it has type 0x03 and sequence 0.
Command packet has subtype 0x43 or 0x53. Only the first command packet in a session has subtype 0x53.
Maximum length of data field in a packet is 2048 bytes, which yields in 2054 total packet length.
Checksum is a simple 16 bit arithmetic sum of all bytes in the data field. As already mentioned above, length and checksum values are transmitted least significant byte first.
| Host | Camera |
|---|---|
| Port speed set to 19200 baud | |
| Host sends init byte 0x00 | |
| Camera responds with signature 0x15 | |
| Host sends command packet with subtype 0x53 and "set speed" command | |
| Camera sends ACK 0x06 | |
| Port speed set to the new value | |
| Host sends command | |
| Camera responds with either ACK plus optionally "action taken" notifier or data packet sequence | |
| Host sends ACK to every data packet | |
| ... Command - reply cycle repeated ... | |
| Camera sends 0xff and resets after a few seconds (value is model-dependant) of inactivity | |
If the camera does not respond to a command in reasonable time, or responds with a NAK, the command can be resent. If the camera does not provide a complete data packet in reasonable time, or the data packet is corrupt (checksum does not match), the host can request resending of the packet by sending NAK instead of ACK.
| Offset | Length | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | Command code |
| 1 | 1 | Register number or subcode |
| 2 | variable | Optional argument |
Five command codes are known:
| Code | Argument | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | int32 | Set value of integer register |
| 1 | none | Read value of integer register |
| 2 | vdata | Take action unrelated to registers |
| 3 | vdata | Set value of vdata register |
| 4 | none | Read value of vdata register |
Commands 0 and 3 are replied with a single ACK 0x06. Command 2 is replied with an ACK 0x06 followed by an "action complete" notifier 0x05. Commands 1 and 4 are replied with a sequence of data packets, each of them must be ACK'ed by the host.
Command 0 must be issued with a 4 byte argument containg the new value for the register (bytes in "LSB first" order). Command 2 typically is issued with a single zero byte as an argument. Command 3 is issued with an argument of variable number of bytes. If this is a printable string, it should not include the trailing zero byte.
Camera replies to the command 1 with a single data packet containing 4 bytes of a 32bit integer (in "LSB first" order). Camera replies to the command 4 with a sequence of data packets with variable number of data bytes. Note that if a printable string is returned, it is terminated with a zero byte, and thus may be safely printed or otherwise treated as a normal C language character string.
| No. | Type | R/W | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | int32 | R/W | Resolution: 1 - Std, 2 - Hi, 3 - Ext, other values possible |
| 2 | int32 | R/W | Clock in UNIX time_t format |
| 3 | int32 | R/W | Shutter speed (microseconds), 0 - auto |
| 4 | int32 | W | Current frame number (or animation number if hi order byte is 0xff) |
| 5 | int32 | R/W | Aperture: 1 - Low, 2 - Mid, 3 - Hi |
| 6 | int32 | R/W | Color mode: 1 - Color, 2 - B/W |
| 7 | int32 | R/W | Flash mode: 0 - Auto, 1 - Force, 2 - Off, 3 - Anti RedEye, 4 - Slow sync |
| 8 | int32 | R/W | Unknown (128) |
| 9 | int32 | R/W | Unknown (128) |
| 10 | int32 | R | No. of frames taken |
| 11 | int32 | R | No. of frames left |
| 12 | int32 | R | Length of current frame * |
| 13 | int32 | R | Length of current thumbnail * |
| 14 | vdata | R | Current frame data * |
| 15 | vdata | R | Current thumbnail data * |
| 16 | int32 | R | Battery capacity percentage |
| 17 | int32 | R/W | Communication speed 1 - 9600 .. 5 - 115200, 6 - 230400, 256 - 9600 .. 264 - 911600 (sync?) |
| 18 | int32 | R | Unknown (1) |
| 19 | int32 | R/W | Bright/Contrast: 0 - Normal, 1 - Bright+, 2 - Bright-, 3 - Contrast+, 4 - Contrast- |
| 20 | int32 | R/W | White balance: 0 - Auto, 1 - Skylight, 2 - Fluorescent, 3 - Tungsten, 255 - Cloudy |
| 21 | vdata | R/W | Unused |
| 22 | vdata | R/W | Camera I.D. |
| 23 | int32 | R/W | Autoshut on host timer (seconds) |
| 24 | int32 | R/W | Autoshut in field timer (seconds) |
| 25 | vdata | R/W | Serial No. (string) |
| 26 | vdata | R | Version |
| 27 | vdata | R/W | Model |
| 28 | int32 | R | Available memory left |
| 29 | vdata | R/W | Upload image data to this register |
| 30 | int32 | W | LED: 0 - Off, 1 - On, 2 - Blink |
| 31 | vdata | R | Unknown ("\0") |
| 32 | int32 | R | Put "magic spell" 0x0FEC000E here before uploading image data |
| 33 | int32 | R/W | Lens mode: 1 - Macro, 2 - Normal, 3 - Infinity/fisheye |
| 34 | int32 | R | Unknown (0) |
| 35 | int32 | R/W | LCD brightness 1 to 7 |
| 36 | int32 | R | Unknown (3) |
| 37 | vdata | R | Unknown ("\0") |
| 38 | int32 | R | LCD autoshut timer (seconds) |
| 39 | int32 | R | Protection state of current frame * |
| 40 | int32 | R | Unknown (0) |
| 41 | int32 | R/W | LCD date format: 1 - 'YY MM DD, 2 - DD MM 'HH |
| 42 | vdata | R | Unknown ("") |
| 43 | vdata | R | Audio data description block * 0: expanded .wav length 1: compressed .wav length 3: Unknown (0) 4: Unknown (0) 5: Unknown (0) 6: Unknown (0) 7: Unknown (0) |
| 44 | vdata | R | Audio data * |
| 45 | vdata | R | Unknown ("") |
| 46 | vdata | R | Camera summary data: 32 bytes with copies of 8 other registers 0: Reg 1 (Resolution) 1: Reg 35 (LCD brightness) or Reg 7 (Flash mode) 2: Reg 10 (Frames taken) or Unknown 3: Unknown (0) or Unknown 4: Unknown (0) or Reg 16 (Battery capacity) 5: Unknown (0) or Reg 10 (Frames taken) 6: Unknown (0) or Reg 11 (Frames left) 7: Number of animations taken |
| 47 | vdata | R | Picture summary data: 32 bytes or 8 int32's * 0: Hi order byte: unknown, next 3 bytes: Length of current image 1: Length of current thumbnail 2: Audio data length (expanded) 3: Resolution 4: Protection state 5: TimeDate 6: Unknown (0) 7: Animation type: 1 - 10ms, 2 - 20ms |
| 48 | vdata | R | Manufacturer |
| 49-52 | vdata | R | Unknown ("") |
| 53 | int32 | R/W | Language: 4 - french, 5 - german, 6 - italian, 8 - spanish, 10 - dutch |
| 54-69 | vdata | R | Unknown ("") |
| 70 | int32 | R/W | Exp. meter: 2 - Center weighted, 3 - Spot, 5 - Multi element matrix |
| 71 | vdata | R | Unknown ("") |
| 72 | int32 | R/W | Bitmap: 1 - AEL/WBL, 2 - Fisheye, 4 - Wide, 8 - Digital zoom, 16 - B/W |
| 73-76 | vdata | R | Unknown ("") |
| 77 | int32 | W | Unknown (write 0x100 (or 1?) here) |
| 78 | vdata | R | Unknown ("") |
| 79 | vdata | R | Filename of current frame * |
| 80-81 | vdata | R | Unknown ("") |
| 82 | int32 | W | Unknown (enable folder features? Write 60 here) |
| 83 | int32 | R/W | Folder navigation When read, return number of folders on the card. When written without data, reset folder system (?) Or select current folder by its number |
| 84 | vdata | R | Current folder name |
| 85-90 | vdata | R | Unknown ("") |
| 91 | vdata | R | Current folder I.D. and name |
For command 2, the second byte is action code not register number. The following action codes are known:
| Code | Argument | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | single zero byte | Erase last picure |
| 1 | single zero byte | Erase all picures (but not animations) |
| 2 | single zero byte | Take picture |
| 4 | single zero byte | Finish session immediately |
| 5 | single zero byte | Take preview snapshot (retreivable as frame zero) |
| 6 | single byte | Autofocus calibration or testing (?) |
| 7 | single zero byte | Erase current frame * |
| 8 | single byte | Switch LCD mode. Arg value: 1 - off 2 - viewfinder 3 - preview whole 4 - preview thumbnails) |
| 9 | single byte | Set protection state of current frame to the value of parameter (binary 0 or 1)* |
| 11 | single zero byte | Store freshly uploaded image into NVRAM |
| 12 | single byte | LCD colours. Arg value: 0 - white 1 - gray 2 - black 3 - red 4 - green 5 - blue 6 - test pattern |
| file: /Techref/io/camera/SerialProtocolofSomeDigitalCameras.htm, 20KB, , updated: 2000/7/31 08:02, local time: 2024/12/25 10:43,
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