I want to build up LabVIEW vision system with a Sensors Unlimited SU320 infrared camera. Which frame grabber is compatible with this camera ?

[asdf]

The PCI 1424 or the PXI/PCI 1422 will acquire from the sensor.
- Because each digital camera is unique, you will need a camera file for the camera.
- The Sensors Unlimited SU320 is a supported camera, and the camera file is available on the National Instruments ftp site (ftp://ftp.ni.com/support/imaq/camera_support/camera_files/digital/others/).
- There is a .txt file that includes any supported / unsupported features.

For more information on the framegrabbers, I would recommend the Online catalog (http://sine.ni.com/apps/we/nioc.vp?lang=US&pc=bymn&cid=1292).

[Kurt_NISalesEngineer]

I think the ftp link is: ftp://ftp.ni.com/support/imaq/camera_support/camera_files/digital/SensorsUnlimited/

for the sensors unlimited cameras.

Kurt

[falkeilenberger]

Do those answers apply only to the digital camera link or is it also not possible to acquire images from the SU320 using the analog input?

I use a NI PCI-1409 Frame Grabber together with a SU320-1.7RT-V/CCIR camera and for me it would be perfectly fine to use the analog (BNC) input of my frame grabber to aquire images. I can grab images in 50 Hz Progressive Scan Mode but they are distorted and every second line remains blank (interlaced and non-interlaced mode). If I try the CCIR setting MAX (Version 4.0.0) produces the following error if I try to grab or snap image: Error 0xBFF60022 ("Es sind nicht alle erwarteten Bilddaten in der vorgesehenen Zeit empfangen worden" - someting like: "Not all expected image-data has been recieved in time"). The camera itself works perfectly fine if I simply attach it to a CCTV Monitor.

any help would be greatly appreciated!

[DJ_L.]

Hey falkeilenberger,

You can use an analog framegrabber with your camera as long as it has the analog output capabilities. So the error you are getting is a basic Timeout error. So I was wondering what version of the NI-IMAQ driver you are using when you try to acquire? Also, have you checked to make sure the Timeout setting in MAX is a reasonable number, like say 1000 ms or so? Have you tried to change any of the other settings for the image acquisition, like the PCLK Source on the Operating tab? What HxW are you using in the acquisition settings? I think your camera can do 320x240, but I could be thinking of a different SU camera. Also, usually cameras are either (like in your case) CCIR or Progressive Scan, but not usually both, unless there is some switch on the camera that you can switch to get it into the other state. CCIR is an interlaced mode, while Progressive Scan is not an interlaced mode. So if your camera outputs a non-interlaced signal, then using the CCIR (setting) camera file, you won't get the expected video in the timeout period because the camera is only sending half of the expected data, which is probably why it is timing out. Now, concerning the distorted images, and the blank line that you are getting, you might need to change some settings around to see if they help. Also, you might want to contact Sensors Unlimited to see if there might be something wrong with the camera. Just a thought.

Well, I hope this helps you out at least a little bit. Please let us know how things go, and if you have any further questions or concerns. Thanks, and have a great day.

Regards,

DJ L.

[falkeilenberger]

Hello DJ L., thank you for your answer, I was on vacation for some days and was not able to swiftly check out your reply.

I have actually found solution that produces clear images but the way to get those images seems quite strange.

If one loads the default profile for CCIR cameras "Mode" is set to "Frame" and "First field" to "Odd", Interlaced is switched on. this produces the above mentioned error. Switching the "First field" to "Even" does not change a thing.

If you change "Mode" to "Field" AND "Aquire Field" to even, one gets a clear image (not depending on the settiung of the "interlaced" checkbox) which is 2 times wider than it is high.

If you now restore the settings to "Mode"="Frame" and "First field"="Even" I get a clear and undistorted image even though the same settings did not work before.

Strange, isn't it?

Thanks for your help
Falk

ps:I have also sent an email to sensors unlimited to see what they suggest.

pps: NI-IMAQ version is 3.5 (at least thats what readme.rtf in the "Documents" folder says)