Using Hardware DivX compression for avi files

[jbab]

I am trying to locate a hardware solution in order to compress video from IMAQ-1394 and store it to HDD in real time.

Anyone has an idea?

Thank you.

[Nate.H]

Dear jbab,

I'd like to provide some help, but I am a little confused by your post. I have a couple of questions as to your application that may help me provide a better answer:

 When you say you are trying to compress video from IMAQ-1394, do you mean acquire from a firewire camera or a different firewire device with the IMAQ-1394 driver?

I am wondering why you specify that you are looking for a hardware solution to compress the video. Could you write a compressed AVI file as described in the following KnowledgeBase article?

Writing a Compressed AVI File with IMAQ Vision
http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/0A4D5BF47FD3FF0186256E9A004FD671?OpenDocument

If you could post back with some additional details, I'd appreciate it. Hopefully then I'll be able to provide a better answer to your question.

Best Regards,

~NH

[jbab]

Thank you for your answer,

The acuisition is occured by a firewire camera through IMAQ 1394 driver.

The reason we are looking for a hardware solution is to reduse processing time caused by 1.3MPixel - 15fps in video. If we increase the resolution or frame rate the processor will not be able to software compress the video in real time.

Best Regards,

jbab

[Nate.H]

Dear jbab,

Thanks for the additional details. I don't think using the IMAQ 1394 or IMAQdx drivers to acquire video and then perform a compression with a codec implemented in hardware would be feasible. If you acquire video with either of these drivers, the data is already in software before you have the chance to access it and send it to be compressed.
 
As an alternative, you could try using different Codecs in software to reduce the time it takes to compress the acquired video. There are many video compression codecs available online, and you should be able to access any of these from LabVIEW if the Codec is registered with Windows. You can find a VI that can compare these various Codecs from the example finder at Toolkits & Modules>>Vision>>Functions>>AVI Compressor Comparison Example.vi. See the attached screenshot I took after running the the VI on my computer.

A hardware solution may be possible using an FPGA and a custom driver or a firewire acquisition card that has a hardware codec built in, but you would not be able to use these solutions with the IMAQ drivers. Hopefully this information will prove helpful, even if it doesn't give you the solution you are looking for.

Best Regards,

~NH