How use your integrated laptop webcam on LABVIEW

[Joel-P]

Hello Gagandeep sharma,

It is possible that the integrated webcam is not using DirectShow, which would mean that it is incompatible with LabVIEW. Most integrated webcams use the USB bus, and many of them are DirectShow compatible.

LabVIEW uses the DirectShow API to communicate with USB webcams, if your webcam is not compatible with this API then it will not be compatible with LabVIEW. It is possible that you webcam is working perfectly, but it may use a proprietary driver that does not use DirectShow, and in this case it would not work in LabVIEW.

Here is a KnowledgeBase regarding National Instruments - Image Acquisition for USB cameras.

NI-IMAQ for USB Cameras:

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/4331B4AA3AE95233862574C200539A2F

Here is the pertinent information from this KnowledgeBase for this application:

USB

Driver Used: NI-IMAQ for USB or NI-IMAQdx 3.4 or later
No framegrabber required. Images are acquired through DirectShow.

As of version 3.4 (installed with Vision Acquisition 2009), USB cameras are supported by the NI-IMAQdx driver.  The driver uses the DirectShow API to communicate with the USB camera.  Any device, such as a microscope, that is USB DirectShow compliant can be used.

NI-IMAQ for USB Cameras is a free software driver for acquiring images from any DirectShow imaging device into LabVIEW. You can download the software here: DeveloperZone Example Program: NI-IMAQ for USB Cameras.  These devices include USB cameras, webcams, microscopes, scanners, and many consumer-grade imaging products. NI-IMAQ for USB Cameras can acquire and set properties using the camera manufacturer driver and Direct Show functions.

For NI software to use the camera successfully with either NI-IMAQdx or NI-IMAQ for USB, the camera manufacturer driver needs to be correctly installed and recognized by the operating system.

Notes:

• National Instruments offers the NI-IMAQ for USB driver free and fully documented, but does not support the product. The NI-IMAQ for USB driver stands as-is, with a listing of known issues.
• You must have the Vision Development Module installed to use the NI-IMAQ for USB driver.

Cheers,

Joel

[Goldy]

Thanks for support joel will revert after testing external usb cam with my leaptop.

[haripandian]

hi everyone,
i am doing a project where i have to capture the image of the user using laptop webcam and then proceed with the application. i have used almost all the techniques in the forum... but of no use.. can u guys suggest me an easy way.. to capture a single image using ni vision toolkit and my laptop camera...i am using labview 2011.

thanks in advance

[Prickly_Pear]

First of all, I would suggest making a new forum thread because almost no one will be looking at this thread because it is so old. The forum threads show up in the order that they were first created, so this one is very low on the list. The only people that will find your post are the NI moderators (like myself) and probably the people who are using the search tools, which means they probably are looking for answers just like you are. You will get a lot more help more quickly if you create a new thread.

If you want to get started with Image Acquisition, I would suggest that you install NI-IMAQdx, which is part of the Vision Acquisition Software package. Then, see if your camera shows up under the NI-IMAQdx devices in Measurement and Automation Explorer. If it does, try snapping an image in MAX. If it works, then that means the camera driver is working well. At that point, I would recommend trying to run some of the example LabVIEW code that installs with Vision Acquisition Software. You can find that in LabVIEW by clicking Help>>Find Examples. In the NI Example Finder, try searching for IMAQdx. Try to find a simple or basic example that you can try out. If you look at the block diagram, this will give you an idea about how the IMAQdx API works.

Good luck!

Jeremy P.