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National Instruments Corporation
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PCI/PXI-1408 and NI-IMAQ for Win95/NT
Chapter
1
Introduction
This chapter describes the PCI-1408 and PXI-1408 devices; lists what
you need to get started; describes software programming choices,
optional equipment, and custom cables; and explains how to unpack and
set up your 1408 device.
About Your 1408 Device
The PCI-1408 and PXI-1408 devices are high-accuracy, monochrome,
IMAQ boards for PCI, PXI, or CompactPCI chassis that support
RS-170, CCIR, NTSC, and PAL video standards from any of four input
sources. The boards feature an 8-bit flash analog-to-digital converter
(ADC) that converts video signals to digital formats. The 1408 devices
acquire frames in real time and transfers them directly to system
memory.
The 1408 device is simple to configure and is factory calibrated so that
you can easily install the board and begin your image acquisition. The
1408 device ships with NI-IMAQ, the National Instruments complete
image acquisition driver software you can use to directly control your
1408 device. Using NI-IMAQ, you can quickly and easily start your
application without having to program the board at the register level.
Featuring low cost and high accuracy, the 1408 device is ideal for both
industrial and scientific environments. As a standalone board, the 1408
device supports four video sources and four external I/O lines that you
can use as triggers or digital I/O lines. If you require more advanced
triggering or additional I/O lines (either digital or analog), you can use
the 1408 device and NI-IMAQ with the National Instruments data
acquisition (DAQ) product line.
A common problem with image acquisition boards is that you cannot
easily synchronize several functions to a common trigger or timing
event. The 1408 device uses its Real-Time System Integration (RTSI)
bus to solve this problem. The RTSI bus consists of the National
Instruments RTSI bus interface and ribbon cable to route additional