MPEG-2 encoding

[jimbo8]

newbie type question:

We want to record high frame rate images (100 - 200 fps) as MPEG-2 on a PC.

So far I am thinking of a Basler A504 camera (with Camera-Link intrerface) connected to to NI 1429 card.

It looks like NI IMAQ will handle the control and saving the video, but what format is it saved in?

Is it uncompressed? Can it be encoded (via software)  to MPEG-2 on the fly?

Do I have to (would it be better to) use a hardware encoder? If so is there a NI board that does this (and how is it interfaced)?

Thanks

Jim

[Sarah_Coleman_NIUK]

Hi Jim,

Thank you for contacting National Instruments. Apologies for the delay in responding to your post.

I've found some information on how you would go about this. First of all, MPEG 2 is copyrighted so you would need to buy some third party software to encode to that format. Here's an example of one:

http://www.dvdsanta.com/mpeg-2-encoder.htm

Here is a link to a discussion forum that provides some more information:

http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=170&message.id=50788&requireLogin=False

There are hardware encoders available also. We don't sell any but if you search on Google you should find some. I came across this document that discusses hardware vs software encoders:

http://snapstream.helpserve.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=1378&nav=0,1

I hope this points you in the right direction at least. Let me know if you have any more questions.

[kasper@hifo.unizh.ch]

I have now experience with the Basler A504. I approve to pay a hardware encoder. The data volume is so huge; the CPU has not the capacity to compress it in real time.