Chapter 2
Hardware Overview
2-2
ni.com
Camera Link and the NI 1430
The NI 1430 supports a Base configuration Camera Link camera on each
connector. As long as both cameras are base configuration, the cameras on
each connector can be different models, have different acquiring methods,
and have different tap configurations.
The Base Camera Link specification includes up to 24 data bits, enable
signals, and asynchronous serial transmission, as well as four digital
camera control lines for controlling exposure time, frame rates, and other
camera control signals. The four control lines are configured in the camera
file to generate precise timing signals for controlling digital camera
acquisition.
The Camera Link standard defines physical connections between image
acquisition devices and Camera Link cameras, and it allows for flexibility
of image format and data transfer protocols. The camera manufacturer
defines image parameters, such as image resolution and the number of bits
per pixel, and camera control parameters, such as frame-on-demand and
exposure control signals.
These variable parameters are defined on a per-camera basis in a camera
file (
camera_model.icd
) supplied by National Instruments. NI-IMAQ
uses the information in this camera file to program the NI 1430 to acquire
images from a specific camera. Without this camera file, the driver does not
have the information necessary to configure the NI 1430 to recognize the
image format of the particular camera you are using.
The Base Camera Link configuration has the following bit allocations:
•
8-bit × 1, 2, and 3 taps (channels)
•
10-bit × 1 and 2 taps
•
12-bit × 1 and 2 taps
•
14-bit × 1 tap
•
16-bit × 1 tap
•
24-bit RGB
Hardware Binarization
The NI 1430 supports binarization and inverse binarization. Binarization
and inverse binarization segment an image into two regions: a particle
region and a background region. Use binarization and inverse binarization
to isolate objects of interest in an image.
