Difference between an instrument and DAQ device

[joaorob]

Hello,

I am very new to Labview and at this point I am trying to grasp the concepts.

Can someone explain me what is the difference between a  DAQ device and an instrument (that we can control).

Also why are they placed in different section in the function pallet ( Measurement I\O and Instrument I\O ) ?

Joao

[FCTesting · Accepted solution]

In the simplest terms, DAQ device (Measurement I/O) interface with NI-DAQmx (or other NI drivers such as NI-SCOPE) to take the measurement, while Instruments are often external to the computer and do not rely on a computer to take a measurement and typically use VISA (or an abstraction of VISA).

Instrument I/O

http://zone.ni.com/reference/en-XX/help/371361K-01/lvmeasconcepts/instrument_i_o/

Measurement I/O

http://zone.ni.com/reference/en-XX/help/371361K-01/lvinstio/ni_meas_vis_func/

[joaorob]

Thank you very much!