Data Width

Data width is the size, in bytes, of a raw sample from the operation. Raw sample refers to the native format and organization of the device, which can be an 8-, 16-, or 32-byte integer.

If you do not require all the channels in your device during a dynamic acquisition and would like to achieve greater memory depth, you can specify a data width other than the total number of available bits for your device for the session. For example, if you are acquiring data on eight of the 16 channels of an NI 656x, if you specify a data width of one byte, you can store twice as many samples than if you had specified the data width as being the entire two bytes. Data width is read-only during generation sessions.