Why does my IMAQ image appear "flattened"?

[joeljkp]

I have a lab camera that feeds both to a TV monitor and to my IMAQ-based LabVIEW 6.1 VI. My VI simply creates a new IMAQ image and writes it out to a PNG file. When I compare the resulting image and the TV monitor, though, the image appears "flattened", making circles appear as ovals and such.

Does anyone know why this might occur? I don't have any size specifications in my VI.

[Robert_Eastlund]

A few possibilities:
1) Does the image appear flattened when you acquire in Measurement and Automation? If so, you may need to change your PC's display settings to 24 or 32 bit.
2) Are you using the appropriate camera file? If your camera is a monochrome CCD, you should most likely be using the RS-170 camera file (CCIR in Europe). If you are using a color camera, then you should be using the NTSC camera file (PAL in Europe).
Please upload an example image file, so we can take a look at it.
What manufacturer/model of camera are you working with?
What program are you using to view your .png files?

-Robert Eastlund, Graftek Imaging, Inc.

[joeljkp]

Yes, the image does appear flattened when I acquire with MAX, but not in a color-depth way. In an aspect ratio way. My camera's specs show a capture size of 768x484. I've attached a screenshot of its properties window in MAX, where it shows a different resolution (that I apparently can't change). I've tried changing the display window settings, but it comes up with an error saying "Could not open file".

I'm using the camera file for my camera (Pulnix 9701).

[Robert_Eastlund]

If you are using one of the analog acquisition cards (PCI-1407, 1411, 1408 or 1409), switch to the standard RS-170 camera file. You should not expect to receive more than a 640 x 480 image. You should only expect to capture at 768 x 484, if you are using the digital output from the camera into a PCI-1422 or 1424.

-Robert Eastlund

[joeljkp]

Yes, I have a PCI-1422. I'm wondering why it's telling me the active image size is 816x525 when my camera is only capable of 768x484?