Imaq WindDraw auto changing display with 10 bit camera

[Tinman]

I am using a 10 bit camera. My understanding is that LabView is displaying the most significant 8 bits. Does Imaq WindDraw ALWAYS display the 8 most significant bits? Or in the case of very low level signals will Imaq WindDraw shift and display lower significant bits?

My 10 bit camera when focused in very tight seems to capture an occasional frame that appears to be just noise, no real image. This does not happen at higher signal levels.

Can that feature be turned off. Thanks for any help.

[BruceAmmons]

The 10 bit image is stored as a 16 bit image, which IMAQ converts to 8 bits for display. The conversion method is controlled by the function IMAQ WindDisplayMapping, found in the Display palette.

The default method is Full Dynamic, which converts the full range of the 16 bit image to an 8 bit image. The largest value in the 16 bit image is mapped to 255, and the smallest is mapped to 0.

You can select Downshift to force a fixed conversion. Read the help to get more details about how to use it. For a 10 bit image, you should downshift 2 bits to retain the most significant bits.

I'm not sure about the occasional noisy image issue, unless it is a side effect of the dynamic mapping. Try Downshift mapping and see if the problem goes away.

Bruce

[Tinman]

I am using LabView 5.1 and NI IMAQ version 2.21, that do not seem to have these VI's. Is there anything I can do using what I have got or do I have to upgrade?

I do believe your solution will work. THank you very much for your quick help. It is most appreciated!