How do I capture an NTSC video stream at 720x480 and interface the stream with LabVIEW vision in real time?

[SGolemme]

LabVIEWs NTSC image acquisition hardware only supports a video resolution of 640x480. There are MPEG NTSC encoders for as little as $40 that support a resolution of 720x480 in color. My requirements for a project is to convert an NTSC source into a digital source with a minimum resolution of 720x480 at 30fps (we would ideally like 60fps) and have LabVIEW Vision interact with it with image stabilization and object recognition, as well as storing the signal, in real-time.

Is this possible? Has anyone else come up with a way to get a higher resolution? Perhaps by writing drivers for third party hardware with LabVIEW?

We would rather avoid writing driver files and we are willing to purchase a different NTSC encoder.

Currently we are using the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-USB2 encoder and included software.

Any information would be most helpful. If not an out of the box solution, information on creating drivers to interface with LabVIEW.

[Nate.H]

Dear SGolemme,

Where did you see that NI image acquisition hardware only supports 640x480 resolution? The image acquisition window is changeable in MAX, and you can also change the standard NTSC camera file to represent an image as something other than 640x480 (it's always a good idea to copy a backup of the camera file before making changes). It should be possible to acquire a 720x480 image with NI image acquisition hardware. Do you have a NI framegrabber & LabVIEW already or are you looking at one as an alternate solution to the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-USB2 encoder and included software?

Best Regards,

~NH

[SGolemme]

NH, thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Hopefully this will provide you with detailed info as to what the problem is.

The datasheets for the three LabVIEW NTSC analog frame grabbers site resolutions of 640 x 480 in the text and in the specs site an NTSC pixel clock of 12.27 MHz, lower than the clock needed for 720 x 480 @ 30fps.

The LabVIEW digital image acquisition hardware can handle resolutions much higher than 640x480, but our video source is NTSC from a composite cable. The best analog framegrabber NI offers seems to be 640x480. If I'm overlooking a LabVIEW NTSC framegrabber that can handle this, please point it out to me! I've talked to the LabVIEW salesperson, but she offers no solution for me.

There are several possible solutions to this problem. But I would like to get a tested solution I can confirm works. We're buying LabVIEW for motor control and testing, and it would be nice to get the Vision module working so we can have an integrated solution.

Here are solutions I see:

1- Write LabVIEW driver files for the Hauppauge in-house

2- Purchase a framegrabber with a simpler interface and write LabVIEW driver files in-house

3- Purchase LabVIEW driver files to an NTSC device that captures at 720x480 @ 30fps or higher, and then purchase that device

4- LabVIEW creates a framegrabber capable of this

Option 4 I don’t see NI doing in the timeframe we’re looking at, although there are framegrabbers that can capture NTSC composite video at 720x480 @ 30fps that sell for as little as $29, it doesn’t make sense for NI not to have something comparable.

Regarding options 1 & 2, writing LabVIEW driver files in-house would be very expensive and time consuming. Other vision solutions become much more attractive at this price-point. We would like to get a tested, out-of-the-box, solution. I received this link from the labVIEW salesperson regarding creating vision drivers: http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4478

That leaves option 3, a third party driver. I found some solutions from Alliance Vision at http://www.alliancevision.com/us/products/softwares.htm . However, I would like to find a piece of hardware that someone else has already used with these drivers and purchase that instead of hoping that it will work with the Hauppauge (unless someone already tested it).

For option 3, LabVIEW vision $3500, driver $600, total $4100. That’s just too much for an unproven solution. I’ll pay more for something I know works.

Does anyone have a solution or know someone who created a solution?

Thanks

[jpsc]

I used the toolkit from Hytek Automation on a number of video capture projects.  It is available from www.hytekautomation.com.  The support is good from them, it seems to be a small outfit and you get support responses from the developer. 

I have captured NTSC video from CCD cameras at 720x480.  I have used the software both with the PixelView XCapture PCI card (CX23881 based) and the Canopus ADVC110 firewire NTSC capture device.  The canopus was a nice solution because it does not need any manufacturer drivers, it uses Microsoft's DV driver.

I believe the pricing was $600 for the toolkit and $50 per runtime license.