Format 7, Multiple Images

[Buzz]

I'm using a Pixelink PL-A780 camera. I was toggling the "Video Mode" setting in MAX between Format 0 to Format 7. I understand that Format 7 is for scalable images and provides for flexibility to change the Height and Width for the ROI. For some reason, while examining the possible effects of changing the settings, I now have multiple pictures of the same image from my camera when selecting Format 7, scalable Image. Cannot figure out for the life of me how to make the camera display one single image of what I'm trying to capture. This was working just fine until I started playing with the video mode settings. The Format 6 (640X480) viewing size is too small and parts of the snapped image are cut after aquiring an image, and by the way, Formats 1-6 only display one image and not the multiple images that format 7 creates. The maximum ROI of the camera is 3000X2208. In Format 7, I can make changes to the ROI size, but there are still multiple images being shown after the image is acquired.

Thanks
Peter.

[RManion]

Hi Peter,

If your camera originally acquired images without a problem, we might be able to very easily switch back to our original settings. If you go to C:\Program Files\National Instruments\NI-IMAQ for IEEE-1394\Data, you should see a camera file for your camera. This is a file that is automatically generated by the driver by reading the memory registers on the camera. It also saves all of the settings you make in MAX. If we copy this file to another directory, and then delete the file, the driver will go out to the camera again and create default settings.

This should place everything back to how it was originally *unless* we have changed some setting in the memory of the camera. If that is the case, you might need to play around with the settings of the camera. Are the images side by side or on top of each other?

Robert Manion
Applications Engineering
National Instruments

[Buzz]

The problem was solved by ensuring that when camera settings are changed, the image being captured immediately following the changes, needs to be such that the camera is focussed on a general area of interest. Focussing on a close proximity, or very specific area of interest results in the problem where multiple images are captured during a single snapshot. Kind of a strange effect, but this scenario was repeated multiple times confirming the problem and the solution I described.

Peter.