National Instruments NI 1410 User Manual

NI Vision

NI PCI-1410 User Manual

High-Quality Monochrome Image Acquisition Device

NI PCI-1410 User Manual

February 2007
373793C-01

Support

Worldwide Technical Support and Product Information

ni.com

National Instruments Corporate Headquarters

11500 North Mopac Expressway Austin, Texas 78759-3504 USA Tel: [phone]

Worldwide Offices

Australia 1800 300 800, Austria 43 662 457990-0, Belgium 32 (0) 2 757 0020, Brazil 55 11 3262 3599,
Canada 800 433 3488, China 86 21 6555 7838, Czech Republic 420 224 235 774, Denmark 45 45 76 26 00,
Finland 385 (0) 9 725 72511, France 33 (0) 1 48 14 24 24, Germany 49 89 7413130, India 91 80 41190000,
Israel 972 3 6393737, Italy 39 02 413091, Japan 81 3 5472 2970, Korea 82 02 3451 3400,
Lebanon 961 (0) 1 33 28 28, Malaysia 1800 887710, Mexico 01 800 010 0793, Netherlands 31 (0) 348 433 466,
New Zealand 0800 553 322, Norway 47 (0) 66 90 76 60, Poland 48 22 3390150, Portugal 351 210 311 210,
Russia 7 495 783 6851, Singapore 1800 226 5886, Slovenia 386 3 425 42 00, South Africa 27 0 11 805 8197,
Spain 34 91 640 0085, Sweden 46 (0) 8 587 895 00, Switzerland 41 56 2005151, Taiwan 886 02 2377 2222,
Thailand 662 278 6777, Turkey 90 212 279 3031, United Kingdom 44 (0) 1635 523545

For further support information, refer to the Technical Support and Professional Services appendix. To comment
on National Instruments documentation, refer to the National Instruments Web site at
the info code

feedback.

ni.com/info and enter

© 2004–2007 National Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved.

Important Information

Warranty

The NI PCI-1410 is warranted against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one year from the date of shipment, as evidenced
by receipts or other documentation. National Instruments will, at its option, repair or replace equipment that proves to be defective during the
warranty period. This warranty includes parts and labor.

The media on which you receive National Instruments software are warranted not to fail to execute programming instructions, due to defects in
materials and workmanship, for a period of 90 days from date of shipment, as evidenced by receipts or other documentation. National Instruments
will, at its option, repair or replace software media that do not execute programming instruc tions if National Instruments receives notice of such defects
during the warranty period. National Instruments does not warrant that the operation of the software shall be uninterrupted or error free.

A Return Material Authorization (RMA) number must be obtained from the factory and clearly marked on the outside of the package before any
equipment will be accepted for warranty work. National Instruments will pay the shipping costs of returning to the owner parts which are covered by
warranty.

National Instruments believes that the information in this document is accurate. The document has been carefully reviewed for technical accuracy. In
the event that technical or typographical errors exist, National Instruments reserves the right to make changes to subsequent editions of this document
without prior notice to holders of this edition. The reader should consult National Instruments if errors are suspected. In no event shall National
Instruments be liable for any damages arising out of or related to this document or the information contained in it.

E

XCEPT AS SPECIFIED HEREIN, NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY OF

MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. CUSTOMER’S RIGHT TO RECOVER DAMAGES CAUSED BY FAULT OR NEGLIGENCE ON THE PART OF NATIONAL

I

NSTRUMENTS SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT THERETOFORE PAID BY THE CUSTOMER. NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES RESULTING

FROM LOSS OF DATA, PROFITS, USE OF PRODUCTS, OR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY THEREOF. This limitation of

the liability of National Instruments will apply regardless of the form of action, whether in contract or tort, including negligence. Any action against
National Instruments must be brought within one year after the cause of action accrues. National Instruments shall not be liable for any delay in
performance due to causes beyond its reasonable control. The warranty provided herein does not cover damages, defects, malfunctions, or service
failures caused by owner’s failure to follow the National Instruments installation, operation, or maintenance instructions; owner’s modification of the
product; owner’s abuse, misuse, or negligent acts; and power failure or surges, fire, flood, accident, actions of third parties, or other events outside
reasonable control.

Copyright

Under the copyright laws, this publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, storing in an information retrieval system, or translating, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of National
Instruments Corporation.

National Instruments respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same. NI software is protected by copyright and other
intellectual property laws. Where NI software may be used to reproduce software or other materials belonging to others, you may use NI software only
to reproduce materials that you may reproduce in accordance with the terms of any applicable license or other legal restriction.

Trademarks

National Instruments, NI, ni.com, and LabVIEW are trademarks of National Instruments Corporation. Refer to the Terms of Use section
on

ni.com/legal for more information about National Instruments trademarks.

Other product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.

Members of the National Instruments Alliance Partner Program are business entities independent from National Instruments and have no agency,
partnership, or joint-venture relationship with National Instruments.

Patents

For patents covering National Instruments products, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software, the patents.txt file
on your CD, or ni.com/patents.

WARNING REGARDING USE OF NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS

(1) NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS ARE NOT DESIGNED WITH COMPONENTS AND TESTING FOR A LEVEL OF
RELIABILITY SUITABLE FOR USE IN OR IN CONNECTION WITH SURGICAL IMPLANTS OR AS CRITICAL COMPONENTS IN
ANY LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS WHOSE FAILURE TO PERFORM CAN REASONABLY BE EXPECTED TO CAUSE SIGNIFICANT
INJURY TO A HUMAN.

(2) IN ANY APPLICATION, INCLUDING THE ABOVE, RELIABILITY OF OPERATION OF THE SOFTWARE PRODUCTS CAN BE
IMPAIRED BY ADVERSE FACTORS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO FLUCTUATIONS IN ELECTRICAL POWER SUPPLY,
COMPUTER HARDWARE MALFUNCTIONS, COMPUTER OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE FITNESS, FITNESS OF COMPILERS
AND DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE USED TO DEVELOP AN APPLICATION, INSTALLATION ERRORS, SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE
COMPATIBILITY PROBLEMS, MALFUNCTIONS OR FAILURES OF ELECTRONIC MONITORING OR CONTROL DEVICES,
TRANSIENT FAILURES OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS (HARDWARE AND/OR SOFTWARE), UNANTICIPATED USES OR MISUSES, OR
ERRORS ON THE PART OF THE USER OR APPLICATIONS DESIGNER (ADVERSE FACTORS SUCH AS THESE ARE HEREAFTER
COLLECTIVELY TERMED “SYSTEM FAILURES”). ANY APPLICATION WHERE A SYSTEM FAILURE WOULD CREATE A RISK OF
HARM TO PROPERTY OR PERSONS (INCLUDING THE RISK OF BODILY INJURY AND DEATH) SHOULD NOT BE RELIANT SOLELY
UPON ONE FORM OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEM DUE TO THE RISK OF SYSTEM FAILURE. TO AVOID DAMAGE, INJURY, OR DEATH,
THE USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER MUST TAKE REASONABLY PRUDENT STEPS TO PROTECT AGAINST SYSTEM FAILURES,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO BACK-UP OR SHUT DOWN MECHANISMS. BECAUSE EACH END-USER SYSTEM IS
CUSTOMIZED AND DIFFERS FROM NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS' TESTING PLATFORMS AND BECAUSE A USER OR APPLICATION
DESIGNER MAY USE NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS IN COMBINATION WITH OTHER PRODUCTS IN A MANNER NOT
EVALUATED OR CONTEMPLATED BY NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS, THE USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER IS ULTIMATELY
RESPONSIBLE FOR VERIFYING AND VALIDATING THE SUITABILITY OF NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS WHENEVER
NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS ARE INCORPORATED IN A SYSTEM OR APPLICATION, INCLUDING, WITHOUT
LIMITATION, THE APPROPRIATE DESIGN, PROCESS AND SAFETY LEVEL OF SUCH SYSTEM OR APPLICATION.

Compliance

Compliance with FCC/Canada Radio Frequency Interference
Regulations

Determining FCC Class

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has rules to protect wireless communications from interference. The FCC
places digital electronics into two classes. These classes are known as Class A (for use in industrial-commercial locations only)
or Class B (for use in residential or commercial locations). All National Instruments (NI) products are FCC Class A products.

Depending on where it is operated, this Class A product could be subject to restrictions in the FCC rules. (In Canada, the
Department of Communications (DOC), of Industry Canada, regulates wireless interference in much the same way.) Digital
electronics emit weak signals during normal operation that can affect radio, television, or other wireless products.

All Class A products display a simple warning statement of one paragraph in length regarding interference and undesired
operation. The FCC rules have restrictions regarding the locations where FCC Class A products can be operated.

Consult the FCC Web site at

FCC/DOC Warnings

This equipment generates and uses radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in strict accordance with the instructions
in this manual and the CE marking Declaration of Conformity*, may cause interference to radio and television reception.
Classification requirements are the same for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Canadian Department
of Communications (DOC).

Changes or modifications not expressly approved by NI could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment under the
FCC Rules.

Class A

Federal Communications Commission

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC
Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated
in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and
used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. Operation of this
equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference in which case the user is required to correct the interference
at their own expense.

www.fcc.gov for more information.

Canadian Department of Communications

This Class A digital apparatus meets all requirements of the Canadian Interference-Causing Equipment Regulations.
Cet appareil numérique de la classe A respecte toutes les exigences du Règlement sur le matériel brouilleur du Canada.

Compliance with EU Directives

Users in the European Union (EU) should refer to the Declaration of Conformity (DoC) for information* pertaining to the
CE marking. Refer to the Declaration of Conformity (DoC) for this product for any additional regulatory compliance
information. To obtain the DoC for this product, visit
and click the appropriate link in the Certification column.

* The CE marking Declaration of Conformity contains important supplementary information and instructions for the user or

installer.

ni.com/certification, search by model number or product line,

Conventions

The following conventions are used in this manual:

<> Angle brackets that contain numbers separated by an ellipsis represent

a range of values associated with a bit or signal name—for example,
AO <3. .0>.

» The » symbol leads you through nested menu items and dialog box options

to a final action. The sequence File»Page Setup»Options directs you to
pull down the File menu, select the Page Setup item, and select Options
from the last dialog box.

This icon denotes a note, which alerts you to important information.

bold Bold text denotes items that you must select or click in the software, such

as menu items and dialog box options. Bold text also denotes parameter
names.

italic Italic text denotes variables, emphasis, a cross-reference, or an introduction

to a key concept. Italic text also denotes text that is a placeholder for a word
or value that you must supply.

monospace Text in this font denotes text or characters that you should enter from the

keyboard, sections of code, programming examples, and syntax examples.
This font is also used for the proper names of disk drives, paths, directories,
programs, subprograms, subroutines, device names, functions, operations,
variables, filenames, and extensions.

Contents

Chapter 1
Introduction

About the NI 1410 Device .............................................................................................1-1

Software Overview ........................................................................................................1-2

NI-IMAQ Driver Software ..............................................................................1-3

National Instruments Application Software ....................................................1-3

Integration with DAQ and Motion Control .....................................................1-5

Chapter 2
Hardware Overview

Functional Overview......................................................................................................2-1

Video Multiplexer ...........................................................................................2-2

Programmable Gain and Offset.......................................................................2-2

Analog Bandwidth Control Circuitry ..............................................................2-2

10-Bit ADC .....................................................................................................2-2

Digital Filter and LUT.....................................................................................2-3

Onboard Memory ............................................................................................2-3

Scatter-Gather DMA Controllers ....................................................................2-3

PCI Interface....................................................................................................2-3

Genlock Circuit and SYNC Mux ....................................................................2-3

Acquisition and Region-of-Interest Control....................................................2-4

RTSI Bus .........................................................................................................2-4

Digital Input/Output Circuitry.........................................................................2-4

Acquisition Modes.........................................................................................................2-4

Analog Front End Considerations..................................................................................2-5

10-Bit/8-Bit Mode ...........................................................................................2-5

Clamping .........................................................................................................2-5

Vision Builder for Automated Inspection.........................................1-3

Vision Development Module ............................................................1-4

Chapter 3
Signal Connections

Video Input Channels ....................................................................................................3-1

BNC Connector..............................................................................................................3-1

Digital I/O Connector ....................................................................................................3-2

Digital I/O Connector Signal Connection Descriptions..................................3-4

© National Instruments Corporation vii NI PCI-1410 User Manual

Contents

Appendix A
Custom Cables

Appendix B
Technical Support and Professional Services

Glossary

Index

NI PCI-1410 User Manual viii ni.com

Introduction

This chapter describes the NI PCI-1410 (NI 1410) device and its software
programming options.

About the NI 1410 Device

The NI 1410 is a high-accuracy, monochrome image acquisition device for
PCI that supports RS-170, CCIR, NTSC, and PAL video standards, as well
as nonstandard cameras from any of four input sources. The NI 1410
features a 10-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that converts video
signals to digital formats. The NI 1410 acquires images in real time and
stores them in onboard frame memory or transfers them directly to system
memory.

The NI 1410 is easy to install and configure. The NI 1410 ships with
NI Vision Acquisition Software, which includes NI-IMAQ, the National
Instruments driver software you can use to directly control the NI 1410 and
other National Instruments image acquisition devices. With NI-IMAQ, you
can quickly and easily start the applications without having to program the
device at the register level.

1

As a stand-alone device, the NI 1410 supports four general-purpose control
lines that are configurable to generate precise timing signals for controlling
camera acquisition. The NI 1410 also supports four video sources and four
external I/O lines to use as triggers or digital I/O lines.

Easily synchronizing several functions to a common trigger or timing event
is a common challenge with image acquisition devices. The NI 1410 uses
its Real-Time System Integration (RTSI) bus to solve this problem. The
RTSI bus uses the National Instruments RTSI bus interface and ribbon
cable to route additional timing and trigger signals between the NI 1410
and National Instruments DAQ, Motion Control, or other image acquisition
devices. The RTSI bus can even synchronize multiple image acquisition
hardware captures.

For detailed specifications of the NI 1410, refer to the Specifications
section of Getting Started with the NI PCI-1410.

© National Instruments Corporation 1-1 NI PCI-1410 User Manual

Chapter 1 Introduction

3

2

1

Refer to Figure 1-1 for the location of the NI 1410 W1 jumper and the
connectors discussed in this manual.

4

NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS

COPYRIGHT 2004

©

NI PCI-1410

1 68-Pin VHDCI Connector
2 BNC Connector

3 W1 Jumper
4 RTSI Bus Connector

Figure 1-1. NI PCI-1410 Parts Locator Diagram

Software Overview

Programming the NI 1410 requires the NI-IMAQ driver software for
controlling the hardware. National Instruments also offers the following
application software packages for analyzing and processing your acquired
images.

• Vision Builder for Automated Inspection (AI)—Allows you to

configure solutions to common inspection tasks.

• National Instruments Vision Development Module—Provides

customized control over hardware and algorithms.

The following sections provide an overview of the driver software and the
application software. For detailed information about individual software
packages, refer to the documentation specific to each package.

NI PCI-1410 User Manual 1-2 ni.com

NI-IMAQ Driver Software

The NI 1410 ships with NI Vision Acquisition Software, which includes
the NI-IMAQ driver software. NI-IMAQ has an extensive library of
functions—such as routines for video configuration, continuous and single
shot image acquisition, memory buffer allocation, trigger control, and
device configuration—you can call from the application development
environment (ADE). NI-IMAQ handles many of the complex issues
between the computer and the image acquisition device, such as
programming interrupts and camera control.

NI-IMAQ performs all functions required for acquiring and saving images
but does not perform image analysis. For image analysis functionality, refer
to the National Instruments Application Software section of this chapter.

Chapter 1 Introduction

NI-IMAQ also provides the interface path between the NI 1410 and
LabVIEW, LabWindows
environment. The NI-IMAQ software kit includes a series of libraries for
image acquisition for LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, and Measurement
Studio, which contains libraries for Microsoft Visual Basic.

NI-IMAQ features both high-level and low-level functions. Examples
of high-level functions include the sequences to acquire images in
multi-buffer, single-shot, or continuous mode. An example of a low-level
function is configuring an image sequence, since it requires advanced
understanding of the image acquisition device and image acquisition
principles.

™

/CVI™, or a text-based programming

National Instruments Application Software

This section describes the National Instruments application software
packages you can use to analyze and process the images you acquire with
the NI 1410.

Vision Builder for Automated Inspection

NI Vision Builder for Automated Inspection (AI) is configurable machine
vision software that you can use to prototype, benchmark, and deploy
applications. Vision Builder AI does not require programming, but is
scalable to powerful programming environments.

Vision Builder AI allows you to easily configure and benchmark a
sequence of visual inspection steps, as well as deploy the visual inspection
system for automated inspection. With Vision Builder AI, you can perform
powerful visual inspection tasks and make decisions based on the results of

© National Instruments Corporation 1-3 NI PCI-1410 User Manual

Chapter 1 Introduction

individual tasks. You also can migrate the configured inspection to
LabVIEW, extending the capabilities of the applications if necessary.

Vision Development Module

The Vision Development Module is an image acquisition, processing, and
analysis library of more than 270 functions for the following common
machine vision tasks:

• Pattern matching

• Particle analysis

•Gauging

• Taking measurements

• Grayscale, color, and binary image display

You can use the Vision Development Module functions individually or
in combination. With the Vision Development Module, you can acquire,
display, and store images, as well as perform image analysis, and
processing. Using the Vision Development Module, imaging novices and
experts can program the most basic or complicated image applications
without knowledge of particular algorithm implementations.

As a part of the Vision Development Module, NI Vision Assistant is an
interactive prototyping tool for machine vision and scientific imaging
developers. With Vision Assistant, you can prototype vision applications
quickly and test how various vision image processing functions work.

Vision Assistant generates a Builder file, which is a text description
containing a recipe of the machine vision and image processing functions.
This Builder file provides a guide you can use for developing applications
in any ADE, such as LabWindows/CVI or Visual Basic, using the Vision
Assistant machine vision and image processing libraries. Using the
LabVIEW VI creation wizard, Vision Assistant can create LabVIEW VI
block diagrams that perform the prototype you created in Vision Assistant.
You then can use LabVIEW to add functionality to the generated VI.

NI PCI-1410 User Manual 1-4 ni.com