Ni-IMAQ for ieee1394 - format 7 problem

[Anders F.]

Hi!

I've encountered a bad problem using a Hamamatsu ORCA-ER camera with IMAQ for IEEE1394 v 2.0 running on Windows XP SP2 with LabView 7 (the problem is there also on labview 7 running on windows 2000).

My VI does a triggered snap to get a single image from the camera. Image acquisition is triggered by an external TTL in mode 1. This works just fine until I change the format 7 parameters (binning). The first image after changing the binning is acquired without problems, but when trying to acquire a second image, error -50150 is always generated. I tried all sorts of variations on the VI without success.

If the format 7 parameters are left unchanged after the error, the third and all subsequent images are acquired without problems. If the format 7 parameters are changed again after clearing the error, Labview crashes and can only be closed through the task manager. If, after the error has occurred, one tries to switch to a program that does a continuous grab, Labview also crashes hard.

The problem is really halting my project, and any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Anders Fridberger

[JohannS]

Anders

What are the format 7 parameters?

Can you send a copy of your .icd file (located in C:\Program Files\National Instruments\NI-IMAQ for IEEE-1394\Data) of the configuration that crashes LabVIEW?

Can you send a simple example that demonstrates the crash?

Have you tried using a triggered grab instead of a triggered snap?

Regards

Johann

[Anders F.]

Dear Johann,

I attach a scaled-down version of the VI. The overall intention with the program is to synchronize image acquisition with a series of laser pulses delivered from an Nd:YAG laser. By increasing the "Laser Pulses per image", a longer TTL signal is generated. The trigger is generated by an E-series board. Each time the user presses "Get image", one trigger is generated, a burst of laser pulses occurs, and an image acquired.

The only format 7 seven parameter that the program modifies is the binning. A value of 0 means no binning, the image is then 1344 x 1024 pixels. A values of 1 gives 2 by 2 binning (672 x 512 pixels) etc.

Normally, image acquisition is a rather infrequent event during the experiment (the maximum rate is one image per two minutes or something similar). This is why I use a snap. I believe that I tried using a grab at the beginning, but then, there are timeouts and similar problems because of the low rate of TTL pulses.

The ICD file is reproduced below.

Thank you,

Anders

[NIIMAQ_HEADER]
Type = 2
Version = 6

[1394_CAMERA_DATA]
Brightness = 255
AutoExposure = 0
Sharpness = 0
WhiteBalanceUB = 0
WhiteBalanceVR = 0
Hue = 0
Saturation = 0
Gamma = 0
ShutterSpeed = 1100
Gain = 0
Iris = 0
Focus = 0
Temperature = 0
Zoom = 0
Pan = 0
Tilt = 0
OpticalFilter = 0
VideoFormat = 7
VideoMode = 0
VideoFrameRate = 0
TimeOut = 5000
Format7Left = 0
Format7Top = 0
Format7Width = 1344
Format7Height = 1024
Format7ColorCoding = 6
Format7BytesPerPacket = 3440
AbsoluteBrightness = 0.00000000000000000e+000
RelativeAutoExposure = 0.00000000000000000e+000
AbsoluteSharpness = 0.00000000000000000e+000
AbsoluteWhiteBalance = 0.00000000000000000e+000
RelativeHue = 0.00000000000000000e+000
RelativeSaturation = 0.00000000000000000e+000
AbsoluteGamma = 0.00000000000000000e+000
AbsoluteShutterSpeed = 1.00098244845867160e-001
RelativeGain = 0.00000000000000000e+000
AbsoluteIris = 0.00000000000000000e+000
AbsoluteFocus = 0.00000000000000000e+000
AbsoluteTemperature = 0.00000000000000000e+000
RelativeZoom = 0.00000000000000000e+000
RelativePan = 0.00000000000000000e+000
RelativeTilt = 0.00000000000000000e+000
AbsoluteOpticalFilter = 0.00000000000000000e+000
UserRoiLeft = 0
UserRoiTop = 0
UserRoiWidth = 1344
UserRoiHeight = 1024
Format7Speed = 3
IgnoreFirstFrame = 0
ShiftPixelBits = 0
SwapPixelBytes = 0
BitsPerPixel = 12
TriggerDelay = 0
WhiteShadingR = 0
WhiteShadingG = 0
WhiteShadingB = 0
FrameRate = 0
AbsoluteTriggerDelay = 0.00000000000000000e+000
AbsoluteFrameRate = 0.00000000000000000e+000
ColorFilter = 0
ColorFilterGainR = 1.00000000000000000e+000
ColorFilterGainG = 1.00000000000000000e+000
ColorFilterGainB = 1.00000000000000000e+000

[AshwaniS]

Hello Anders!

Have you resolved your problem or is it still an issue?

[Anders F.]

Hi Ashwani,

The problem is still there, and it reproducibly occurs every time that the binning changes, if mode 1 (level) triggering is used. The only workaround that I've been able to find is to use mode 0 triggering instead, setting the exposure time based on the expected duration of the trigger signal. This works, but it is not an optimal solution.

I saw recently that similar problems have been reported previously by somebody else using mode 1 triggering and binning, so the problem is not unique to my hardware or VI.

Thank you,

Anders

[AshwaniS]

Hi Anders!

I´m sad to hear that you didnt find a solution to your problem. I will escalate your issue to our R&D department.

Cheers