National Instruments PXI-1428 User Manual

TM

IMAQ

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

High-Quality Camera Link Image Acquisition Device
for PCI and PXI

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

June 2004 Edition

Part Number 322862D-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 0 662 45 79 90 0, Belgium 32 0 2 757 00 20, Brazil 55 11 3262 3599,
Canada (Calgary) 403 274 9391, Canada (Ottawa) 613 233 5949, Canada (Québec) 450 510 3055,
Canada (Toronto) 905 785 0085, Canada (Vancouver) 514 685 7530, China 86 21 6555 7838,
Czech Republic 420 224 235 774, Denmark 45 45 76 26 00, Finland 385 0 9 725 725 11,
France 33 0 1 48 14 24 24, Germany 49 0 89 741 31 30, Greece 30 2 10 42 96 427, India 91 80 51190000,
Israel 972 0 3 6393737, Italy 39 02 413091, Japan 81 3 5472 2970, Korea 82 02 3451 3400,
Malaysia 603 9131 0918, Mexico 001 800 010 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 7 095 783 68 51, Singapore 65 6226 5886, Slovenia 386 3 425 4200, South Africa 27 0 11 805 8197,
Spain 34 91 640 0085, Sweden 46 0 8 587 895 00, Switzerland 41 56 200 51 51, Taiwan 886 2 2528 7227,
Thailand 662 992 7519, United Kingdom 44 0 1635 523545

For further support information, refer to the Technical Support and Professional Services appendix. To comment
on the documentation, send email to [e-mail].

© 2001–2004 National Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved.

Important Information

Warranty

The IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 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 instructions 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.

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

E

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

N

ATIONAL INSTRUMENTS 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 PO SSIBILITY
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.

Trademarks

CVI™, IMAQ™, LabVIEW™, Measurement Studio™, MITE™, National Instruments™, NI™, ni.com™, NI-DAQ™, NI-IMAQ™, and RTSI™ are
trademarks of National Instruments Corporation.

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

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/hardref.nsf, 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,
DIO<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.

♦ The ♦ symbol indicates that the following text applies only to a specific

product, a specific operating system, or a specific software version.

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

This icon denotes a caution, which advises you of precautions to take to
avoid injury, data loss, or a system crash.

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. This font 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 IMAQ 1428...................................................................................................1-1

Camera Link ..................................................................................................................1-2

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

Software Overview ........................................................................................................1-3

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

National Instruments Application Software ....................................................1-4

Integration with DAQ......................................................................................1-5

Vision and Motion...........................................................................................1-5

Chapter 2
Installation

What You Need to Get Started ......................................................................................2-1

Optional Equipment.......................................................................................................2-2

Unpacking......................................................................................................................2-2

Safety Information .........................................................................................................2-3

Installation .....................................................................................................................2-5

Configuring the IMAQ 1428 .........................................................................................2-6

Interfacing with the IMAQ 1428 ...................................................................................2-7

Vision Builder for Automated Inspection.........................................1-4

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

Chapter 3
Hardware Overview

Functional Overview......................................................................................................3-1

Camera Link and IMAQ 1428.........................................................................3-2

Base Configuration ...........................................................................3-2

Medium Configuration......................................................................3-2

Data Transmission ...........................................................................................3-2

LUTs................................................................................................................3-3

Multiple-Tap Data Formatter ..........................................................................3-3

SDRAM...........................................................................................................3-3

Trigger Control and Mapping Circuitry ..........................................................3-3

High-Speed Timing .........................................................................................3-4

Acquisition and Region of Interest (ROI) .......................................................3-4

Scatter-Gather DMA Controllers ....................................................................3-4

Bus Master PCI Interface ................................................................................3-4

© National Instruments Corporation vii IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Contents

Start Conditions............................................................................................... 3-5

Acquisition Window Control .......................................................................... 3-5

Serial Interface ................................................................................................ 3-5

Chapter 4
Signal Connections

Connectors..................................................................................................................... 4-1

MDR 26-Pin Connector .................................................................................. 4-2

68-Pin VHDCI Connector............................................................................... 4-2

Connector Signal Connection Descriptions .................................................... 4-4

Appendix A
Specifications

Appendix B
Cabling

Appendix C
Technical Support and Professional Services

Glossary

Index

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual viii ni.com

Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of the IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 image

acquisition device, the Camera Link standard, Camera Link and

IMAQ 1428 interfacing guidelines, and your software programming

choices.

About the IMAQ 1428

The IMAQ 1428 is a highly flexible image acquisition (IMAQ) device that

supports a diverse range of Camera Link-compatible cameras from various

camera companies. The IMAQ 1428 acquires digital images in real time

and stores the images in onboard frame memory or transfers them directly

to system memory. Featuring a high-speed data flow path, the IMAQ 1428

is ideal for both industrial and scientific environments.

The IMAQ 1428 is easy to install and configure. It ships with NI-IMAQ,

the National Instruments complete IMAQ driver software you can use to

directly control the IMAQ 1428 and other National Instruments IMAQ

hardware products. With NI-IMAQ, you can quickly and easily start your

applications without having to program the device at the register level.

1

The IMAQ 1428 supports the Camera Link Base configuration. The

VHDCI 68-pin connector provides access to the 8-bit × 4 mode of the

Camera Link Medium configuration. For further configuration

information, refer to the Camera Link and IMAQ 1428 section of

Chapter 3, Hardware Overview.

The VHDCI 68-pin connector has four external input/output (I/O) lines you

can use as triggers or as high-speed digital I/O lines.

For more advanced digital or analog system triggering or digital I/O lines,

you can use the IMAQ 1428 and NI-IMAQ with the National Instruments

data acquisition (DAQ) or motion control product lines.

Synchronizing several functions to a common trigger or timing event can

be a challenge with image acquisition devices. The IMAQ 1428 uses the

Real-Time System Integration (RTSI) bus to solve this problem.

© National Instruments Corporation 1-1 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Chapter 1 Introduction

Camera Link

Overview

The RTSI bus uses the National Instruments RTSI bus interface and ribbon
cable to route additional timing and trigger signals between the PCI-1428
and up to four National Instruments DAQ, motion control, or IMAQ
devices. The RTSI bus can also synchronize multiple IMAQ hardware
captures. The RTSI bus is integrated into the PXI system’s backplane for
the PXI-1428.

For detailed specifications of the IMAQ 1428, refer to Appendix A,

Specifications.

This section provides a brief overview of the Camera Link standard.
For more detailed information about Camera Link specifications, refer to
the Specifications of the Camera Link Interface Standard for Digital
Cameras and Frame Grabbers manual. This manual is available on several
Web sites, including the Automated Imaging Association site at

www.machinevisiononline.org.

Developed by a consortium of camera and image acquisition device
manufacturers, Camera Link is a standard for interfacing digital cameras
with image acquisition devices. Camera Link simplifies connectivity
between the image acquisition device and the camera by defining a single
standard connector for both. This standard ensures physical compatibility
of devices bearing the Camera Link logo.

The basis for the Camera Link standard is the National Semiconductor
Channel Link chipset, a data transmission method consisting of a
general-purpose transmitter/receiver pair. The Channel Link driver takes
28 bits of parallel digital data and a clock and serializes the stream to
four LVDS (EIA-644) data streams and an LVDS clock, providing
high-speed data transmission across 10 wires and over distances of up
to 10 m.

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual 1-2 ni.com

Software Overview

Programming the IMAQ 1428 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-IMAQ Driver Software

The NI-IMAQ driver software ships with the IMAQ 1428. 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 IMAQ device, such as

programming interrupts and camera control.

Chapter 1 Introduction

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.

NI-IMAQ is also the interface path between the IMAQ 1428 and LabVIEW,

LabWindows

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 IMAQ device and image acquisition.

© National Instruments Corporation 1-3 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

™

/CVI™, or a text-based programming environment. The

Chapter 1 Introduction

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 IMAQ 1428.

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

Vision Builder AI is available for LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, and
Measurement Studio, which includes support for Microsoft Visual Basic.

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.

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual 1-4 ni.com

NI Vision Assistant is included with the Vision Development Module.

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

diagrams that perform the prototype you created in Vision Assistant.

You can then use LabVIEW to add functionality to the generated VI.

Integration with DAQ

Platforms that support NI-IMAQ also support NI-DAQ and a variety of

National Instruments DAQ boards. This allows integration between IMAQ

devices and National Instruments DAQ products.

Vision and Motion

Use National Instruments high-performance stepper and servo motion

control products with pattern matching software in inspection and guidance

applications, such as locating alignment markers on semiconductor wafers,

guiding robotic arms, inspecting the quality of manufactured parts, and

locating cells.

Chapter 1 Introduction

© National Instruments Corporation 1-5 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Installation

This chapter contains a list of necessary and optional items for getting

started acquiring images with the IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428. This chapter also

explains how to unpack, configure, and install the IMAQ 1428.

What You Need to Get Started

You need the following items to set up and use the IMAQ 1428:

❑ Getting Started with Your IMAQ System

❑ NI-IMAQ for Windows 2000/NT/XP and documentation

❑ Pentium-based PCI computer running Windows 2000/NT/XP

❑ Camera Link camera

❑ MDR 26-pin Camera Link cable

❑ Optional software packages and documentation:

– IMAQ Vision for LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, or Measurement

Studio (Visual Basic)

– IMAQ Vision Builder

–LabVIEW

– LabWindows/CVI

– Measurement Studio

2

© National Instruments Corporation 2-1 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Chapter 2 Installation

Optional Equipment

National Instruments offers a variety of products for use with the
IMAQ 1428, including the following:

• IMAQ D6804 breakout cable used for external triggering only. This
cable provides BNC connectivity to the four external trigger lines on
the 68-pin VHDCI connector.

• IMAQ D6826 breakout cable used for medium configuration and
external triggering. This cable breaks the VHDCI connector into a
25-pin D-SUB for triggering and an MDR 26-pin Camera Link cable
for medium configuration connectivity.

• RTSI bus cables for connecting the PCI-1428 to other IMAQ,
motion control, or DAQ devices.

• Other National Instruments DAQ devices for enhanced triggering,
timing, or input/output.

For more specific information about these products, refer to the
National Instruments catalog, visit
Instruments office nearest you.

ni.com, or call the National

Unpacking

The IMAQ 1428 ships in an antistatic package to prevent electrostatic
discharge from damaging device components. To avoid such damage in
handling the device, take the following precautions:

• Ground yourself using a grounding strap or by holding a grounded
object, such as the computer chassis.

• Touch the antistatic package to a metal part of the computer chassis
before removing the device from the package.

Caution Never touch the exposed pins of connectors.

Remove the device from the package and inspect it for loose components
or any other signs of damage. Notify National Instruments if the device
appears damaged in any way. Do not install a damaged device in the
computer.

Store the IMAQ 1428 in the antistatic envelope when not in use.

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual 2-2 ni.com

Safety Information

Caution The following paragraphs contain important safety information you must follow

when installing and operating the device.

Do not operate the device in a manner not specified in the documentation.
Misuse of the device may result in a hazard and may compromise the safety
protection built into the device. If the device is damaged, turn it off and do
not use it until service-trained personnel can check its safety. If necessary,
return the device to National Instruments for repair.

Keep away from live circuits. Do not remove equipment covers or shields
unless you are trained to do so. If signal wires are connected to the device,
hazardous voltages can exist even when the equipment is turned off. To
avoid a shock hazard, do not perform procedures involving cover or shield
removal unless you are qualified to do so. Disconnect all field power prior
to removing covers or shields.

Chapter 2 Installation

If the device is rated for use with hazardous voltages (>30 V
or 60 V

), it may require a safety earth-ground connection wire. Refer to

dc

, 42.4 Vpk,

rms

the device specifications for maximum voltage ratings.

Because of the danger of introducing additional hazards, do not install
unauthorized parts or modify the device. Use the device only with the
chassis, modules, accessories, and cables specified in the installation
instructions. All covers and filler panels must be installed while operating
the device.

Do not operate the device in an explosive atmosphere or where flammable
gases or fumes may be present. Operate the device only at or below the
pollution degree stated in the specifications. Pollution consists of any
foreign matter—solid, liquid, or gas—that may reduce dielectric strength
or surface resistivity. The following is a description of pollution degrees.

• Pollution Degree 1—No pollution or only dry, nonconductive
pollution occurs. The pollution has no effect.

• Pollution Degree 2—Normally only nonconductive pollution occurs.
Occasionally, nonconductive pollution becomes conductive because of
condensation.

• Pollution Degree 3—Conductive pollution or dry, nonconductive
pollution occurs. Nonconductive pollution becomes conductive
because of condensation.

© National Instruments Corporation 2-3 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Chapter 2 Installation

Caution National Instruments measurement products may be classified as either

Installation Category I or II. Operate products at or below the Installation Category level
specified in the hardware specifications.

Clean the device and accessories by brushing off light dust with a soft,
nonmetallic brush. Remove other contaminants with a stiff, nonmetallic
brush. The unit must be completely dry and free from contaminants before
returning it to service.

Yo u must insulate signal connections for the maximum voltage for which
the device is rated. Do not exceed the maximum ratings for the device.
Remove power from signal lines before connection to or disconnection
from the device.

Installation Category

voltages

2

and transient stresses (overvoltage) from the circuit to which they

1

: Measurement circuits are subjected to working

are connected during measurement or test. Installation Category establishes
standardized impulse withstand voltage levels that commonly occur in
electrical distribution systems. The following is a description of Installation
(Measurement

3

) Categories:

• Installation Category I is for measurements performed on circuits not
directly connected to the electrical distribution system referred to as
MAINS

4

voltage. This category is for measurements of voltages from
specially protected secondary circuits. Such voltage measurements
include signal levels, special equipment, limited-energy parts of
equipment, circuits powered by regulated low-voltage sources,
and electronics.

• Installation Category II is for measurements performed on circuits
directly connected to the electrical distribution system. This category
refers to local-level electrical distribution, such as that provided by
a standard wall outlet (for example, 115 V for U.S. or 230 V for
Europe). Examples of Installation Category II are measurements
performed on household appliances, portable tools, and similar
products.

1

Installation Categories as defined in electrical safety standard IEC 61010-1.

2

Working voltage is the highest rms value of an AC or DC voltage that can occur across any particular insulation.

3

Installation Category is also referred to as Measurement Category.

4

MAINS is defined as the (hazardous live) electrical supply system to which equipment is designed to be connected for the
purpose of powering the equipment. Suitably rated measuring circuits may be connected to the MAINS for measuring
purposes.

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual 2-4 ni.com

Installation

Chapter 2 Installation

• Installation Category III is for measurements performed in the building
installation at the distribution level. This category refers to
measurements on hard-wired equipment such as equipment in fixed
installations, distribution boards, and circuit breakers. Other examples
are wiring, including cables, bus-bars, junction boxes, switches,
socket-outlets in the fixed installation, and stationary motors with
permanent connections to fixed installations.

• Installation Category IV is for measurements performed at the primary
electrical supply installation (<1,000 V). Examples include electricity
meters and measurements on primary overcurrent protection devices
and on ripple control units.

Install the IMAQ 1428 in any open compatible expansion slot in the
PCI or PXI system. Appendix A, Specifications, lists the typical power
requirements for each device.

The following instructions are for general installation. Consult the
computer user manual or technical reference manual for specific
instructions and warnings.

Caution The IMAQ 1428 is a sensitive electronic device shipped in an antistatic bag.

Open only at an approved workstation and observe precautions for handling
electrostatic-sensitive devices.

Note You must install the NI-IMAQ driver software before installing the IMAQ 1428

device. For information about how to install NI-IMAQ, refer to the Getting Started with
Your IMAQ System document and the NI-IMAQ Release Notes.

♦ PCI-1428

1. Power off and unplug the computer.

Caution To protect yourself and the computer from electrical hazards, the computer must

remain unplugged until the installation is complete.

2. Remove the cover to expose access to the PCI expansion slots.

3. Choose an unused 5 V PCI slot, and remove the corresponding
expansion slot cover on the back panel of the computer.

© National Instruments Corporation 2-5 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Chapter 2 Installation

Caution To protect yourself and the computer from electrical hazards, the computer must

remain unplugged until the installation is complete.

4. Touch a metal part on the computer case to discharge any static
electricity that might be on your clothes or body before handling
the PCI-1428. Static electricity can damage the device.

5. Gently rock the PCI-1428 into the slot. The connection may be tight,
but do not force the device into place.

6. If required, screw the mounting bracket of the device to the back panel
rail of the computer.

7. Replace the cover.

8. Plug in and power on the computer.

♦ PXI-1428

1. Power off and unplug the chassis.

2. Choose an unused 3.3 V or 5 V peripheral slot and remove the filler
panel.

3. Touch a metal part on the chassis to discharge any static electricity that
might be on your clothes or body. Static electricity can damage the
device.

4. Insert the PXI-1428 into the chosen slot. Use the injector/ejector
handle to fully inject the device into place.

5. Screw the front panel of the PXI-1428 to the front panel mounting rails
of the chassis.

6. Visually verify the installation.

7. Plug in and power on the chassis.

Your IMAQ 1428 is now installed.

Configuring the IMAQ 1428

After you have installed the IMAQ 1428 and powered on your computer,
Windows will recognize the device and assign resources to it. Use
Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX) to configure the IMAQ 1428
for acquisition.

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual 2-6 ni.com

Interfacing with the IMAQ 1428

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. Camera control parameters, such as frame-on-demand and
exposure control signals, are also defined by the camera manufacturer.

These variable parameters are defined on a per-camera basis in a camera
file (

camera_model.icd) supplied by National Instruments. The

NI-IMAQ driver software uses the information in this camera file to
program the IMAQ 1428 to acquire images from a specific camera. Without
this camera file, the driver does not have the information necessary to
configure the IMAQ 1428 for acquisition.

MAX, the National Instruments configuration utility, provides a simple
interface for associating a camera file with the IMAQ 1428. Use the
following guidelines to access the camera file in MAX:

1. Launch MAX, and expand the Devices and Interfaces branch of the

configuration tree.

2. Expand the IMAQ 1428 branch.

3. Right-click Channel 0 and select Camera.

4. Select your camera from the menu. If your camera is not in the menu,
verify that the camera file is installed in the

Chapter 2 Installation

NI-IMAQ\Data directory.

Many camera files are installed when you install NI-IMAQ, and many more
are available for download from the National Instruments Camera Advisor
at

ni.com/camera. When installing new camera files, save them to the

Data folder located at Program Files\National Instruments\

NI-IMAQ\Data

.

Contact National Instruments technical support to request camera files not
available in the Camera Advisor. Refer to Appendix C, Technical Support

and Professional Services, for information about National Instruments

technical support.

© National Instruments Corporation 2-7 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Hardware Overview

This chapter provides an overview of IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 hardware
functionality and explains the operations of the device’s functional units.

Functional Overview

The IMAQ 1428 features a flexible, high-speed data path optimized for
receiving and formatting video data from Camera Link cameras.

Figure 3-1 illustrates the key functional components of the IMAQ 1428.

3

Synchronous Dynamic RAM

Data

Enables

Pixel

Clock

Camera

Control

26-Pin MDR Connector

Control

Enables

Pixel

Clock

68-Pin VHDCI

Serial

Data

Channel

Link

Receiver

Differential

Converter

Channel

Link

Receiver

LUT

Data

Pixel Clock and Camera Enables

Advanced

External Triggers

Timing

UART

LUT

Data

IMAQ SDRAM

Interface

Acquisition,

ROI, and Triggering

RTSI Bus

Data

PCI/PXI Interface

DMA Controllers

and

Scatter-Gather

PCI/PXI Bus

Figure 3-1. IMAQ 1428 Block Diagram

© National Instruments Corporation 3-1 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Chapter 3 Hardware Overview

Camera Link and IMAQ 1428

The IMAQ 1428 supports the Camera Link Base configuration as well as
the 8-bit × 4 mode of the Camera Link Medium configuration.

Base Configuration

The Camera Link Base configuration places 24 data bits and four enable
signals (Frame Valid, Line Valid, Data Valid, and a spare) on a single
Channel Link part and cable.

The Base configuration includes asynchronous serial transmission as well
as four digital camera control lines for controlling exposure time, frame
rates, and other camera control signals. These four control lines are
configured in the camera file to generate precise timing signals for
controlling digital camera acquisition.

Base configuration includes 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

Medium Configuration

The IMAQ 1428 supports the 8-bit × 4 tap of the Camera Link Medium
configuration. The Medium configuration requires using both connectors.
This configuration allows for more data throughput by offering two
synchronized data streams between the camera and the IMAQ 1428.

Data Transmission

A 28-to-4 serializing Channel Link chip drives the data and camera enable
signals across the Camera Link cable, and the camera’s pixel clock controls
the Channel Link’s data transmission. The four LVDS pairs are then
deserialized by another Channel Link chip on the IMAQ 1428.

Note Exact timing of camera and image acquisition device communication is camera

dependent. The Specifications of the Camera Link Interface Standard for Digital Cameras
and Frame Grabbers manual fully explains the Camera Link timing requirements.

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual 3-2 ni.com

LUTs

The IMAQ 1428 offers lookup tables (LUTs) that can perform operations
such as contrast enhancement, data inversion, gamma manipulation, or
other nonlinear transfer functions. The LUT fully supports any 8-bit to
16-bit base or medium configuration supported by the IMAQ 1428. Refer
to the Camera Link and IMAQ 1428 section for more information on
supported Camera Link configurations.

Multiple-Tap Data Formatter

Many digital cameras transfer multiple taps, or channels, of data
simultaneously to increase the frame rate of the camera. However, the data
in each tap may not be transferred in the traditional top-left to bottom-right
direction. Also, the taps may not transfer data in the same direction.

The multiple-tap data formatting circuitry on the IMAQ 1428 can
reorder the data from up to four taps. The data from each tap can
be independently scanned either from left-to-right or right-to-left and
top-to-bottom or bottom-to-top.

Note For your convenience, data reformatting instructions for these cameras have been

preprogrammed into the camera files.

Chapter 3 Hardware Overview

SDRAM

The PXI-1428 has 32 MB of onboard high-speed synchronous dynamic
RAM (SDRAM). The PCI-1428 has 16 MB of SDRAM. The IMAQ 1428
uses the onboard RAM as a FIFO buffer to ensure a complete acquisition.
Even when the data rate from the camera exceeds PCI throughput, you can
acquire without interruption until the onboard RAM is full.

Trigger Control and Mapping Circuitry

The trigger control and mapping circuitry routes, monitors, and drives
the external and RTSI bus trigger lines. You can configure each line to start
an acquisition on a rising or falling edge and drive each line asserted or
unasserted, much like a digital I/O line. You also can map pulses from the
high-speed timing circuitry or many of the IMAQ 1428 status signals to
these trigger lines. Four external and four RTSI bus triggers (all of
which are programmable for polarity and direction) are available for
simultaneous use.

© National Instruments Corporation 3-3 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Chapter 3 Hardware Overview

High-Speed Timing

Built from high-speed counters, the high-speed timing circuitry on the
IMAQ 1428 can generate precise real-time control signals for your camera.
Map the output of this circuitry to a trigger line to provide accurate pulses
and pulse trains. Use these control signals to control exposure time and
frame rate.

Note For your convenience, the external control for cameras that support the IMAQ 1428

has been preprogrammed into the camera file. You can use MAX to specify the frequency
and duration of these signals in easy-to-use units.

Acquisition and Region of Interest (ROI)

The acquisition and ROI circuitry monitors incoming video signals and
routes the active pixels to the multiple-tap data formatter and SDRAM.
The IMAQ 1428 can perform ROI on all video lines and frames. In an ROI
acquisition, select an area within the acquisition window to transfer across
the PCI bus to system memory.

Note You can use MAX to set the acquisition and ROI parameters.

Scatter-Gather DMA Controllers

The IMAQ 1428 uses three independent onboard direct memory access
(DMA) controllers. The DMA controllers transfer data between the
onboard SDRAM memory buffers and the PCI bus. Each of these
controllers supports scatter-gather DMA, which allows the DMA controller
to reconfigure on-the-fly. The IMAQ 1428 can perform continuous image
transfers directly to either contiguous or fragmented memory buffers.

Bus Master PCI Interface

The IMAQ 1428 implements the PCI interface with a National Instruments
custom application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), the PCI MITE.
The PCI interface can transfer data at a theoretical maximum rate of
133 MB/s in bus master mode.

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual 3-4 ni.com

Start Conditions

The IMAQ 1428 can start acquisitions in the following ways:

• Software control—The IMAQ 1428 supports software control of
acquisition start. You can configure the IMAQ 1428 to capture a fixed
number of frames. This configuration is useful for capturing a single
frame or a sequence of frames.

• Trigger control—You can start an acquisition by enabling external
or RTSI bus trigger lines. Each of these inputs can start a video
acquisition on a rising or falling edge. You can use all four external
triggers and up to four RTSI bus triggers simultaneously.

• Delayed acquisition—Use either software or triggers to start
acquisitions instantaneously or after skipping a specific number of
frames. You can use delayed acquisition for post-trigger applications.

Acquisition Window Control

You can configure the following parameters on the IMAQ 1428 to control
the video acquisition window:

• Acquisition window—The IMAQ 1428 allows the user to specify a
particular region of active pixels and active lines within the incoming
video data. The active pixel region selects the starting pixel and
number of pixels to be acquired relative to the assertion edge of the
horizontal (or line) enable signal from the camera. The active line
region selects the starting line and number of lines to be acquired
relative to the assertion edge of the vertical (or frame) enable signal.

• Region of interest—The IMAQ 1428 uses a second level of active pixel
and active line regions for selecting a region of interest. Using the
region-of-interest circuitry, the device acquires only a selected subset
of the acquisition window.

Chapter 3 Hardware Overview

Serial Interface

The IMAQ 1428 provides serial connections to and from the camera
through two LVDS pairs in the Camera Link cable. All Camera Link serial
communication uses one start bit, one stop bit, no parity, and no hardware
handshaking.

The IMAQ 1428 supports the following baud rates: 56000, 38400, 19200,
9600, 7200, 4800, 3600, 2400, 2000, 1800, 1200, 600, and 300.

© National Instruments Corporation 3-5 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Chapter 3 Hardware Overview

You can use the serial interface interactively with MAX and

clsercon.exe, or programmatically with LabVIEW and C.

Interactively:

• MAX—Use MAX with a camera file containing preprogrammed
commands. When an acquisition is initiated, the commands are sent to
the camera.

•

clsercon.exe—Use National Instruments terminal emulator for

Camera Link,

clsercon.exe, if a camera file with preprogrammed

serial commands does not exist for your camera. With

clsercon.exe, you can still communicate serially with your camera.

Go to

<NI-IMAQ>\bin to access clsercon.exe.

Programmatically:

• LabVIEW—Use the serial interface programmatically, through calls
to the NI-IMAQ driver using the IMAQ Serial Write and IMAQ Serial
Read VIs. Go to

imaqll.llb

<LabVIEW>\vi.lib\vision\driver\

to access these files.

• C—Use the serial interface programmatically, through calls to the
NI-IMAQ driver using

imgSessionSerialRead.

imgSessionSerialWrite and

Note clsercon.exe, IMAQ Serial Write, IMAQ Serial Read,

imgSessionSerialWrite

, and imgSessionSerialRead are used for directly

accessing the IMAQ 1428 serial port and are not required for most users.

National Instruments also fully supports the recommended serial API
described in the Specifications of the Camera Link Interface Standard for
Digital Cameras and Frame Grabbers manual.

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual 3-6 ni.com

Signal Connections

This chapter describes the MDR 26-pin connector and the 68-pin VHDCI
connector on the IMAQ 1428 device.

Connectors

Figure 4-1 shows the connectors on the IMAQ 1428 device.

1

NI PXI-1428

Image Acquisition

4

CAMERA LINK

1

CAMERA LINK

TRIGGERS

2

1 MDR 26-Pin Connector 2 68-Pin VHDCI Connector

Figure 4-1. IMAQ 1428 Connectors

© National Instruments Corporation 4-1 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

2

TRIGGERS

Chapter 4 Signal Connections

MDR 26-Pin Connector

The MDR 26-pin connector provides reliable high-frequency transfer rates
between the camera and the acquisition device. To access this connector,
use a 3M Camera Link cable. For additional information on Camera Link
cables, including ordering information and cable lengths, refer to the

Camera Link Cables section of Appendix B, Cabling.

Figure 4-2 shows the IMAQ 1428 MDR 26-pin connector assignments.
Refer to Table 4-1 for a description of the MDR-26 and 68-pin VHDCI
signal connections.

DGND
CC(4)+
CC(3)–
CC(2)+
CC(1)–

SerTFG–

SerTC+

X(3)–

XCLK–

X(2)–
X(1)–
X(0)–

DGND

14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

9
10
11
12
13

DGND
CC(4)–
CC(3)+
CC(2)–
CC(1)+
SerTFG+
SerTC–
X(3)+
XCLK+
X(2)+
X(1)+
X(0)+
DGND

Figure 4-2. MDR 26-Pin Connector Assignments

68-Pin VHDCI Connector

The 68-pin VHDCI connector connects to external digital I/O lines,
triggers, and medium configuration 8-bit × 4 mode. To access these
connections, build a custom cable or use an optional cable from National
Instruments. For information about building a custom cable for the 68-pin
VHDCI connector, refer to the 68-Pin VHDCI Cable Specifications section
of Appendix B, Cabling.

Figure 4-3 shows the 68-pin VHDCI connector pinout. Refer to Table 4-1
for a description of the MDR-26 and 68-pin VHDCI signal connections.

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual 4-2 ni.com

Chapter 4 Signal Connections

RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED

DGND

DGND
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED

DGND

DGND
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED

DGND

DGND

DGND

DGND

*CHASSIS_GND

RESERVED

DGND
RESERVED

68
67
66
65
64
63
62
61
60
59
58
57
56
55
54
53
52
51
50
49
48
47
46
45
44
43
42
41
40
39
38
37
36
35

34

RESERVED

33

RESERVED

32

RESERVED

31

RESERVED

30

RESERVED

29

RESERVED

28

RESERVED

27

RESERVED

26

DGND

25

Y (0)–

24

Y (0)+

23

Y (1)–

22

Y (1)+

21

Y (2)–

20

Y (2)+

19

YCLK –

18

YCLK+

17

Y (3)–

16

Y (3)+

15

RESERVED

14

RESERVED

13

RESERVED

12

RESERVED

11

RESERVED

10

RESERVED

9

RESERVED

8

TTL_TRIG(0)

7

TTL_TRIG(1)

6

TTL_TRIG(2)

5

TTL_TRIG(3)

4

CHASSIS_GND*

3

RESERVED

2

DGND

1

RESERVED

*For PXI-1428, the signal for pin 4 and pin 38 is DGND.

Figure 4-3. PCI-1428 68-Pin VHDCI Connector Pin Assignments

© National Instruments Corporation 4-3 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Chapter 4 Signal Connections

Connector Signal Connection Descriptions

Table 4-1 describes the MDR-26 and 68-pin VHDCI signal connections.

Table 4-1. I/O Connector Signals

Signal Name Description

TTL_TRIG<3..0> TTL external triggers/DIO lines (input/output)

DGND A direct connection to digital GND on the IMAQ 1428

CHASSIS_GND A direct connection to the computer chassis, which is grounded through the

power cord

X<3..0>± LVDS Base configuration data and enable signals from the camera to the

acquisition device

Y<3..0>± LVDS Medium configuration data and enable signals from the camera to the

acquisition device

XCLK± Transmission clock on the Base configuration chip for Camera Link

communication between the acquisition device and the camera

YCLK± Transmission clock on the Medium configuration chip for Camera Link

communication between the acquisition device and the camera

SerTC± Serial transmission to the camera from the image acquisition device

SerTFG± Serial transmission to the frame grabber from the camera

CC<4..1>± Four LVDS pairs, defined as camera inputs and acquisition device outputs,

reserved for camera control

On some cameras, the camera controls allow the acquisition device to control
exposure time and frame rate.

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual 4-4 ni.com

Specifications

This appendix lists the specifications of the IMAQ 1428. These
specifications are typical at 25 °C, unless otherwise stated.

External Connections

Number of external trigger I/O lines...... 4

Trigger input

Voltage range.................................. 0 to 5 V (TTL)

Polarity............................................ Programmable,

Trigger output

Voltage range.................................. 0 to 5 V (TTL)

Polarity............................................ Programmable,

A

Input high voltage.................... 2.0 V

Input low voltage ..................... 0.8 V

active-high or active-low

Output high voltage ................. 2.4 V at 15 mA source

Output low voltage .................. 0.55 V at 10 mA sink

active-high or active-low

Power-on state........................................ Input (high-impedance)

10 KΩ pull-up to 5 V

Pixel clock.............................................. Camera Link compatible

Enables ................................................... Camera Link compatible

Control signal......................................... Camera Link compatible

Video data ..............................................Camera Link compatible

© National Instruments Corporation A-1 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Appendix A Specifications

Clocks

Pixel clock frequency range....................20 to 50 MHz

Note Camera Link cameras must transmit at a minimum of 20 MHz.

PCI Interface

Theoretical max PCI bandwidth .............133 MB/s

Memory

Onboard memory

LUTs.......................................................Four 8-bit; two 10-bit to 16-bit

Serial Requirements

Baud rates supported ..............................300, 600, 1200, 1800, 2000, 2400,

Power Requirements

Voltage

1

PCI-1428..........................................16 MB SDRAM

PXI-1428 .........................................32 MB SDRAM

3600, 4800, 7200, or 9600 bps;

19.2, 38.4, or 56 kbps

PCI-1428..........................................+5 V (1.5 A)

+12 V (24 mA)
–12 V (20 mA)

PXI-1428 .........................................+5 V (250 mA)

+3.3 V (1.2 A)

Physical

Dimensions

PCI-1428..........................................10.7 cm × 17.5 cm

(4.2 in. × 6.9 in.)

PXI-1428 .........................................10 cm × 16 cm

(3.9 in. × 6.3 in.)

1

This value corresponds to the post-serialization Camera Link cable transmission rate of 140 to 350 MHz.

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual A-2 ni.com

Environment

Safety

Appendix A Specifications

Weight

PCI-1428 ......................................... 0.127 kg (0.28 lb)

PXI-1428......................................... 0.172 kg (0.38 lb)

The IMAQ 1428 device is intended for indoor use only.

Operating temperature............................ 0 to 55 °C

Storage temperature ............................... –20 to 70 °C

Maximum altitude .................................. 2,000 m

Pollution Degree .................................... 2

Relative humidity ................................... 5 to 90%, noncondensing

The IMAQ 1428 meets the requirements of the following standards
for safety and electrical equipment for measurement, control, and
laboratory use:

• EN 61010-1, IEC 61010-1

• UL 3111-1, UL 61010B-1

• CAN/CSA C22.2 No. 1010.1

Note For UL and other safety certifications, refer to the product label, or visit

ni.com/hardref.nsf, search by model number or product line, and click the

appropriate link in the Certification column.

Electromagnetic Compatibility

Emissions ............................................... EN 55011 Class A at 10 m

FCC Part 15A above 1 GHz

Immunity................................................ EN 61326: 1997/ A2:2001,

Table 1

CE, C-Tick, and FCC Part 15 (Class A) Compliant

Note For EMC compliance, operate this device with shielded cabling. In addition,

all covers and filler panels must be installed. Refer to the Declaration of Conformity (DoC)
for this product for any additional regulatory compliance information. To obtain the DoC

© National Instruments Corporation A-3 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Appendix A Specifications

for this product, visit ni.com/hardref.nsf, search by model number or product line,
and click the appropriate link in the Certification column.

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual A-4 ni.com

Cabling

This appendix contains cabling requirements for the IMAQ 1428, including
Camera Link cable ordering information.

68-Pin VHDCI Cable Specifications

National Instruments offers cables and accessories for connecting to video
sources, trigger sources, or synchronization sources. However, if you want
to develop your own cable for the 68-pin VHDCI connector, you must use
twisted pairs for each signal.

If you are using the IMAQ D6826 breakout cable, refer to Figure B-1 for
the MDR 26-pin medium configuration Camera Link connector pinout.
Refer to Figure B-2 for the 25-pin D-SUB trigger connector pinout.

Note Refer to the following connector pinouts only if you are using the IMAQ D6826

breakout cable. If you are not using this cable, refer to Chapter 4, Signal Connections,
for the standard MDR 26-pin connector pinout.

B

14

10
11
12
13

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26

GND
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
CL_Y(3)–
CL_YCLK–
CL_Y(2)–
CL_Y(1)–
CL_Y(0)–
GND

GND
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED

CL_Y(3)+

CL_YCLK+

CL_Y(2)+
CL_Y(1)+
CL_Y(0)+

GND

Figure B-1. 26-Pin MDR Medium Configuration Camera Link Connector

© National Instruments Corporation B-1 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Appendix B Cabling

For information about additional connector pin assignments, refer to the

Connectors section of Chapter 4, Signal Connections.

Camera Link Cables

Use a 3M Camera Link cable to connect your camera to the MDR 26-pin
connector on the IMAQ 1428 device. Camera Link cables consist of
two MDR-26 male plugs linked with a twin-axial shielded cable and
are available in two shell configurations.

10

11

12
13

1

14

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

GND

15

GND

16

RESERVED

17

RESERVED

18

RESERVED

19

RESERVED

20

RESERVED

21

RESERVED

22

TTL_TRIG (3)

23

TTL_TRIG (2)

24

TTL_TRIG (1)

25

RESERVED

TTL_TRIG (0)

RESERVED

RESERVED

RESERVED

RESERVED

RESERVED

RESERVED

RESERVED

RESERVED

GND

GND

GND

RESERVED

Figure B-2. 25-Pin D-SUB Trigger Connector

Note National Instruments recommends purchasing a Camera Link cable. Building your

own cable is not recommended due to the high-speed signaling on the Camera Link
interface.

For more information on Camera Link cables, refer to the Specifications

of the Camera Link Interface Standard for Digital Cameras and Frame
Grabbers manual. This manual is available on several Web sites,

including the Automated Imaging Association site at

www.machinevisiononline.org.

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual B-2 ni.com

Figure B-3 illustrates the Camera Link cable.

Ordering Information

Camera Link cables are manufactured by 3M corporation and are available
from both National Instruments and 3M.

Appendix B Cabling

1

2

1 MDR 26-Pin Male Plug 2 2X Thumbscrews

Figure B-3. Camera Link Cable

Two-meter Camera Link cables (part number 187676-02) are available
from the National Instruments Web site at

ni.com/catalog. Camera

Link cables are available in 1 to 10 m lengths from the 3M Web site at

www.3m.com. Refer to Figure B-4 for 3M part number information.

14X26-SZLB-XXX-0LC

Shell Retention Options:

B = Thumbscrew shell kit
T = Thumbscrew overmold shell

Figure B-4. 3M Part Number Ordering Information

© National Instruments Corporation B-3 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Length:

100 = 1 meter
200 = 2 meters
300 = 3 meters
450 = 4.5 meters
500 = 5 meters
700 = 7 meters
A00 = 10 meters

Technical Support and
Professional Services

Visit the following sections of the National Instruments Web site at

ni.com for technical support and professional services:

• Support—Online technical support resources at

include the following:

– Self-Help Resources—For immediate answers and solutions,

visit the award-winning National Instruments Web site for
software drivers and updates, a searchable KnowledgeBase,
product manuals, step-by-step troubleshooting wizards, thousands
of example programs, tutorials, application notes, instrument
drivers, and so on.

– Free Technical Support—All registered users receive free Basic

Service, which includes access to hundreds of Application
Engineers worldwide in the NI Developer Exchange at

ni.com/exchange. National Instruments Application Engineers

make sure every question receives an answer.

• Training and Certification—Visit

self-paced training, eLearning virtual classrooms, interactive CDs,
and Certification program information. You also can register for
instructor-led, hands-on courses at locations around the world.

• System Integration—If you have time constraints, limited in-house

technical resources, or other project challenges, NI Alliance Program
members can help. To learn more, call your local NI office or visit

ni.com/alliance.

• Declaration of Conformity (DoC)—A DoC is our claim of

compliance with the Council of the European Communities using
the manufacturer’s declaration of conformity. This system affords
the user protection for electronic compatibility (EMC) and product
safety. You can obtain the DoC for your product by visiting

ni.com/hardref.nsf.

• Calibration Certificate—If your product supports calibration,

you can obtain the calibration certificate for your product at

ni.com/calibration.

C

ni.com/support

ni.com/training for

© National Instruments Corporation C-1 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Appendix C Technical Support and Professional Services

If you searched ni.com and could not find the answers you need, contact
your local office or NI corporate headquarters. Phone numbers for our
worldwide offices are listed at the front of this manual. You also can visit
the Worldwide Offices section of
office Web sites, which provide up-to-date contact information, support
phone numbers, email addresses, and current events.

ni.com/niglobal to access the branch

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual C-2 ni.com

Glossary

A

acquisition window The image size specific to a video standard or camera resolution.

active line region The region of lines actively being stored. Defined by a line start (relative to

the vertical synchronization signal) and a line count.

active pixel region The region of pixels actively being stored. Defined by a pixel start (relative

to the horizontal synchronization signal) and a pixel count.

API Application programming interface.

area A rectangular portion of an acquisition window or frame that is controlled

and defined by software.

ASIC Application-Specific Integrated Circuit. A proprietary semiconductor

component designed and manufactured to perform a set of specific
functions for specific customer needs.

B

buffer Temporary storage for acquired data.

bus A group of conductors that interconnect individual circuitry in a computer,

such as the PCI bus; typically the expansion vehicle to which I/O or other
devices are connected.

C

Camera Link Interface standard for digital video data and camera control based on the

Channel Link chipset.

Channel Link National Semiconductor chipset for high-speed data serialization and

deserialization for transmission across cables up to 10 m.

© National Instruments Corporation G-1 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Glossary

D

DAQ Data acquisition. (1) Collecting and measuring electrical signals from

sensors, transducers, and test probes or fixtures and inputting them to a
computer for processing. (2) Collecting and measuring the same kinds of
electrical signals with A/D or DIO boards plugged into a computer, and
possibly generating control signals with D/A and/or DIO boards in the
same computer.

DMA Direct memory access. A method by which data can be transferred to and

from computer memory from and to a device or memory on the bus while
the processor does something else; DMA is the fastest method of
transferring data to/from computer memory.

drivers Software that controls a specific hardware device, such as an image

acquisition board.

F

FIFO First-in first-out memory buffer. The first data stored is the first data sent

to the acceptor; FIFOs are used on IMAQ devices to temporarily store
incoming data until that data can be retrieved.

I

I/O Input/output. The transfer of data to/from a computer system involving

communications channels, operator interface devices, and/or data
acquisition and control interfaces.

L

LUT Look-up table. Table containing values used to transform the gray-level

values of an image. For each gray-level value in the image, the
corresponding new value is obtained from the look-up table.

LVDS Low Voltage Differential Signaling (EIA-644).

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual G-2 ni.com

Glossary

M

mux Multiplexer. A switching device with multiple inputs that selectively

connects one of its inputs to its output.

N

NI-IMAQ Driver software for National Instruments IMAQ hardware.

P

PCI Peripheral Component Interconnect. A high-performance expansion bus

architecture originally developed by Intel to replace ISA and EISA. PCI
offers a theoretical maximum transfer rate of 133 Mbytes/s.

pixel Picture element. The smallest division that makes up the video scan line;

for display on a computer monitor, a pixel’s optimum dimension is square
(aspect ratio of 1:1, or the width equal to the height).

pixel clock Divides the incoming horizontal video line into pixels.

protocol The exact sequence of bits, characters, and control codes used to transfer

data between computers and peripherals through a communications
channel.

R

RAM Random-access memory.

real time A property of an event or system in which data is processed as it is acquired

instead of being accumulated and processed at a later time.

resolution The smallest signal increment that can be detected by a measurement

system. Resolution can be expressed in bits, in proportions, or in
percent of full scale. For example, a system has 12-bit resolution,
one part in 4,096 resolution, and 0.0244 percent of full scale.

RGB Color encoding scheme using red, green, and blue (RGB) color information

where each pixel in the color image is encoded using 32 bits: eight bits for
red, eight bits for green, eight bits for blue, and eight bits for the alpha value
(unused).

© National Instruments Corporation G-3 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Glossary

ROI Region of interest. A hardware-programmable rectangular portion of the

acquisition window.

RTSI bus Real-Time System Integration Bus. The National Instruments timing bus

that connects IMAQ and DAQ devices directly, by means of connectors on
the devices, for precise synchronization of functions.

S

scatter-gather DMA A type of DMA that allows the DMA controller to reconfigure on-the-fly.

SDRAM Synchronous dynamic RAM.

T

tap A stream of pixels from a camera. Some cameras send multiple streams,

or taps, of data over a cable simultaneously to increase transfer rate.

transfer rate The rate, measured in bytes/s, at which data is moved from source to

destination after software initialization and set up operations. The
maximum rate at which the hardware can operate.

trigger Any event that causes or starts some form of data capture.

trigger control and
mapping circuitry

TTL Transistor-transistor logic.

Circuitry that routes, monitors, and drives external and RTSI bus trigger
lines. You can configure each of these lines to start or stop acquisition on a
rising or falling edge.

V

VI Virtual Instrument. (1) A combination of hardware and/or software

elements, typically used with a PC, that has the functionality of a classic
stand-alone instrument. (2) A LabVIEW software module (VI), which
consists of a front panel user interface and a block diagram program.

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual G-4 ni.com

Index

Numerics

68-pin VHDCI connector, 4-2

cable specifications, B-1
overview, 4-2
pin assignments (figure), 4-3

A

acquisition and region of interest (ROI)

circuitry, 3-4
acquisition start conditions, 3-5
acquisition window control, 3-5

active pixel region (acquisition

window), 3-5

region of interest, 3-5

application software, Vision Development

Module, 1-4

B

Base configuration, Camera Link, 3-2
block diagram of IMAQ 1428 (figure), 3-1
bus master PCI interface, 3-4

C

cabling

68-pin VHDCI cable specifications, B-1
Camera Link cable (figure), B-3

Camera Link cables, B-2
calibration certificate (NI resources), C-1
Camera Link

Base configuration, 3-2

cabling

description, B-2
ordering information, B-3

Medium configuration, 3-2

overview, 1-2
CC<4..1>± signal (table), 4-4
CHASSIS_GND signal (table), 4-4
clock signals

XCLK± signal (table), 4-4

YCLK± signal (table), 4-4
clock specifications, A-2
configuration

Camera Link

Base configuration, 3-2

Medium configuration, 3-2
configuring the IMAQ 1428, 2-6
installation, 2-5

connectors

68-pin VHDCI connector, 4-3
I/O connector signals (table), 4-4
IMAQ 1428 connectors (figure), 4-1
MDR 26-pin connector (figure), 4-2
signal description (table), 4-4

conventions used in manual, v

D

data formatter, multiple tap, 3-3
data transmission, 3-2
Declaration of Conformity (NI resources), C-1
delayed acquisition start conditions, 3-5
DGND signal (table), 4-4
diagnostic tools (NI resources), C-1
DMA controllers, 3-4
documentation

conventions used in the manual, v
NI resources, C-1

drivers (NI resources), C-1

© National Instruments Corporation I-1 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Index

E

electromagnetic compatibility

specifications, A-3
environment specifications, A-3
equipment, optional, 2-2
examples (NI resources), C-1
external connection specifications, A-1

G

getting started with the IMAQ 1428, 2-1

H

hardware overview, 3-1

acquisition window control, 3-5
acquisition, region of interest (ROI), 3-4
block diagram (figure), 3-1
bus master PCI interface, 3-4
Camera Link, 3-2

Base configuration, 3-2

Medium configuration, 3-2
data transmission, 3-2
high-speed timing, 3-4
LUTs, 3-3
multiple-tap data formatter, 3-3
scatter-gather DMA controllers, 3-4
SDRAM, 3-3
serial interface, 3-5
start conditions, 3-5
trigger control and mapping circuitry, 3-3

help, technical support, C-1
high-speed timing circuitry, 3-4

interfacing with, 2-7
optional equipment, 2-2
overview and features, 1-1
requirements for getting started, 2-1
software programming choices, 1-3

integration with DAQ, 1-5
National Instruments application

software, 1-4
NI-IMAQ driver software, 1-3
Vision and Motion, 1-5
Vision Builder for Automated

Inspection, 1-4
Vision Development Module, 1-4

unpacking, 2-2

installation

cabling, B-1

68-pin VHDCI cable

specifications, B-1
Camera Link cables, B-2

hardware, 2-5
procedure, 2-5

unpacking, 2-2
instrument drivers (NI resources), C-1
integration with DAQ and motion control, 1-5

K

KnowledgeBase, C-1

L

LabVIEW, Vision Builder AI, 1-4
LUTs (lookup tables), 3-3

I

I/O connector. See connectors
IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428

Camera Link, 1-2
configuration, 2-6
installation, 2-5

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual I-2 ni.com

M

mapping circuitry, 3-3
MDR 26-pin connector, 4-2
Medium configuration, Camera Link, 3-2
memory, A-2

Index

motion control, integrating with, 1-5
multiple-tap data formatter, 3-3

N

National Instruments application software, 1-4
National Instruments support and

services, C-1

NI-IMAQ driver software, 1-3

O

optional equipment, 2-2

P

PCI Interface, A-2
PCI-1428

installation, 2-5

interfacing with, 2-7
physical specifications, A-2
power requirements, A-2
programming examples (NI resources), C-1
PXI-1428

installation, 2-6

interfacing with, 2-7

R

Real-Time System Integration (RTSI) bus, 1-1
region of interest (ROI) circuitry, 3-4
region of interest, in acquisition window

control, 3-5

requirements for getting started, 2-1

S

safety specifications, A-3
scatter-gather DMA controllers, 3-4
SDRAM, 3-3

serial interface, 3-5
serial requirements, A-2
SerTC± signal (table), 4-4
SerTFG± signal (table), 4-4
signal connections, 4-1

connectors

68-pin VHDCI connector, 4-2
IMAQ 1428 connectors (figure), 4-1
MDR 26-pin connector, 4-2

signal descriptions, 4-4
software (NI resources), C-1
software controlled start conditions, 3-5
software programming choices, 1-3

integration with DAQ, 1-5
National Instruments IMAQ Vision, 1-4
NI-IMAQ driver software, 1-3
Vision and Motion, 1-5
Vision Builder for Automated

Inspection, 1-4

Vision Development Module, 1-4
software, Vision Development Module, 1-4
specifications

clocks, A-2

electromagnetic compatibility, A-3

environment, A-3

external connections, A-1

memory, A-2

PCI interface, A-2

physical, A-2

power requirements, A-2

safety, A-3

serial requirements, A-2
start conditions

delayed acquisition, 3-5

software control, 3-5

trigger control, 3-5
support, technical, C-1

© National Instruments Corporation I-3 IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual

Index

T

technical support, C-1
timing circuitry, high-speed, 3-4
training and certification (NI resources), C-1
trigger control and mapping circuitry, 3-3
trigger controlled start conditions, 3-5
troubleshooting (NI resources), C-1
TTL_TRIG signal (table), 4-4

U

unpacking the IMAQ 1428, 2-2

V

VHDCI connector, 68-pin, 4-2

cable specifications, B-1
overview, 4-2
pin assignments (figure), 4-3

W

Web resources, C-1

X

X<3..0>± signal (table), 4-4
XCLK± signal (table), 4-4

Y

Y<3..0> signal (table), 4-4
YCLK± signal (table), 4-4

IMAQ PCI/PXI-1428 User Manual I-4 ni.com