Why does the PCI-1408 we used can reach only 8 fps?

[Thanatus]

We are using IMAQ PCI-1408 to stud y the motion of an object in mechanics experiments. The maximum acquisition rate that we could obtain is just 8 fps. We are using a computer with Pent III 800Mhz processor and 128 Mb RAM. We even tried to use a code in from Costumer Solution (Digital Video Recorder with Motion JPEG, Lehnich H. et. al.), still we could not reach 30 fps. What could we have done wrong?

[BruceAmmons]

Thanatus,

I assume your camera is capable of 30 fps.

First use MAX to verify that you can acquire 30 fps. Select your camera and use the Grab button. You should get full speed video display. The lower right hand corner should show how many frames per second it is acquiring and displaying. If it is only 8 fps, you have a problem with your hardware. If it is 30 fps, your problem is in the software.

The most common software problem is using snap, which is very slow. You should either use grab or a sequence to acquire your images. Most likely, you will want to acquire a sequence of images and analyze them after you acquire them. If you are using grab, your frame rate will depend on your loop speed. If you are doing analysis simultaneously, that is proba
bly slowing you down.

Bruce