Difference of DAQ card and Digitizer/Scope Card

[ellen]

Hello,
    I am using PCI-5112 as a Scope to collect data of low frequency (1MHz, 1MS/s is enough for my application). Just wondering if it's possible to use a normal DAQ card, like PCI-6251(16-Bit, 1 MS/s (Multichannel), 1.25 MS/s (1-Channel), 16 Analog Inputs) to realize the same function as Digitizer/Scope card, including triggering, sampling rate, vertical scale, etc.
   It seems NI digitizer/scope card has higher speed/bandwidth than the DAQ card. Beside this, is there any difference between those two cards?

Thanks in advance!

Message Edited by ellen on 04-10-2007 08:54 PM

[Matt_A]

Hello ellen,

The High-Speed Digitizers FAQ found here offers a good explanation of the difference between a Data Acquisition (DAQ) board and a High-Speed Digitizer. This page should answer most of your questions.

[Gunay]

The High-Speed Digitizers FAQ link is broken.

[Aaron_W.]

Gunay,

Thanks for posting on the NI Forums. The link is broken because we have changed our website a large amount since that post was made over two years ago. I was unable to find the specific document on our website anymore, was there something specific I could help clear up in regards to the differences between our digitizers and our general DAQ cards? 

[ssujann1]

Hello,

I need to synchronize my swept source laser pulse to the optical output signal from a detector. I need bandwidth of Much or more for my purpose. 

Is it possible to use a DAQ card instead of digitizer. I am going to have a DAQ card as it is much more cheaper than a digitizer and if a DAQ card serve my purpose then go for it.

Also is there any good links which shows the difference between two a digitizer and a DAQ card?

Thank you in advance.

BR

Sultan Mahmud

Email: ssujann1@yahoo.com

[Aaron O]

Sultan,

Typically, when a customer would like to use Multifunction DAQ, they do not want to sample at any rate over 2 MS/s. We have several cards that will sample up to this speed. We do have a Simultaneous PXI Multifunction DAQ card that can make measurements up to 10MS/s. It is also worth noting that you can synchronize Multifunction DAQ with an external signal. If you would like to browse through our Multifunction DAQ offerings, take a look at this page here: Multifunction Data Acquisition.

Oscilloscopes/Digitizers are typically used for faster acquisitions. We have cards ranging from the speed of Multifunction DAQ all the way up to 12.5GS/s. You can browse these cards here: Digitizers/Oscilloscopes.

It will depend on the specifications of your application to decide on exactly what devices to use. The product pages for the above products are very good resources for learning about device capabilities and features.

Regards,

Aaron