IMAQ Info / help

[Martyn]

Will more PC RAM improve the performance of my PCI-1409 image aquisition system?

I only have 256MB at the moment. I was thinking that more memory may allow me to capture longer video, or is that determined by the card's on-board memory. I also wondered if more RAM would give me a larger window, or greater resolution.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Martyn

[Martyn]

Somebody out there must have an answer.

I'm new to all this but I'm sure it's a real easy question for you guys.  

[YatinM]

Hi Martyn

The minimum spec to run LabVIEW (and also Windows XP) is to my knowledge 256Mb RAM. If you increased your RAM it would not make any difference to the resolution of your camera, that is purely down to the spec avaiable on the camera you are using. With the issue regarding whether increasing the RAM would enable you to capture longer video would depend on what you are trying to do, but increasing it would make things alot more stable. NI does recommend that you use 512Mb RAM. Which version of LabVIEW are you running and also which camera are you using?

Always happy to help

YatinM

NIUK

Applications Engineer

[Martyn]

Hi Yatin

Thanks for your reply,

I have LabView 7.0, IMAQ vision builder 6.0, and I am using a Prior MicroCam which is a standard CCIR camera.

All I am trying to do at the moment is video something moving beneath the microscope. Obviously longer video would enable me to capture more of the process. I am also interested in increasing the size of the aquisition window. Would more RAM enable this or is that dependant on the camera?

The reason for my initial enquiry is to justify buying more RAM to my boss. I think the info you have already given me does that.

Cheers

Martyn

[YatinM]

Hi Martyn

In order ot modify the acquisition window parameters, you can make use of the IMAQ Set Camera Attribute function. This function has input parameters that allow you to select what parameter you want to change and what value you want to set it to. If you view the context help for this function, it will give you instructions on how to use it. The list of what attributes can be modified in this way can be found in the .txt file that should have been installed on the PC that has your camera attached to it.

When you modify the camera attributes using SetCameraAttribute, you are only able to modify the attributes that are listed in the .txt file in the following directory:

C:\Program Files\National Instruments\NI-IMAQ\Camera Info

Modifying the top, left, width, and height parameters (or some variation thereof) should change the dimensions of the image that is acquired. However, there is still a maximum size that is allowed. That size is determined by the resolution of the camera itself.
Take a look at that function and the text file that lists the settable attributes for your camera. Let me know if you have any additional questions on this issue.

Regards

YatinM
NIUK
Applications Engineer