Acquire Image (Smart Camera) Controls

NI Vision Assistant

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Acquire Image (Smart Camera) Controls

The following controls are available on all tabs.

  • Acquire Single Image—Acquires and displays a single image from the NI 17xx smart camera. When you click this button, the step acquires and displays the next image provided by the camera. If the camera is in a triggered mode, the step waits for the next trigger signal to acquire and display an image.
  • Acquire Continuous Images—Performs a continuous acquisition, or a triggered grab if the camera is in a triggered mode, and displays the image. When you click this button, the step starts the continuous acquisition and display of images. If the camera is in a triggered mode, the step waits for the next trigger signal to acquire and display a new image for each iteration. Click this button a second time to stop the continuous image acquisition.
  • Store Acquired Image in Browser—Sends the last acquired image to the Image Browser.

Main Tab

The following controls are available on the Main tab.

  • Target—Smart camera you want to use to acquire images.
  • Exposure Time—Time during which the camera sensor is exposed to light. Exposure Time can be adjusted in 31.2µs increments.
  • Gain—Adjusts the gain of an image.
  • Partial Scan—Specifies the scanning mode of the smart camera.
    • Full—Reads the full sensor.
    • Horizontal Middle Half—Reads the middle half of the sensor.
    • Horizontal Quarter Half—Reads the middle quarter of the sensor.
  • Binning—Specifies the binning mode of the smart camera.
    • Off—Pixels are not combined.
    • 1 × 2—Vertical pixels are combined.
  • Max Frame Rate—Displays the maximum rate of frames per second.

Trigger Tab

The following controls are available on the Trigger tab.

  • Triggered Acquisition—When enabled, you can synchronize an image acquisition with events external to the smart camera, such as receiving a pulse from a detector that indicates the position of an item on an assembly line. The trigger signal must be connected to the trigger input of the smart camera.
  • Trigger Polarity—Specifies if you reset the camera and start the acquisition of a new image on the rising or falling edge of the trigger signal.
  • Exposure Delay—Specifies the amount of time to delay the exposure of the smart camera sensor after receiving a trigger signal.
  • Delay Unit—Specifies the units for Exposure Delay.
    Note Note  The Encoder Counts option is only available for smart cameras that support quadrature encoders.
  • Timeout—Specifies the amount of time, in milliseconds, to wait for the trigger signal before returning a timeout error.

Lighting Tab

The following controls are available on the Lighting tab.

  • Configure Light—Launches the Configure Light dialog box. Use the controls in the dialog box to configure your light.
  • Enable Direct Drive Lighting—When enabled, this control allows you to use the smart camera internal lighting controller. Direct Drive lighting is not available on all NI Smart Cameras. Refer to the NI 17xx Smart Camera User Manual for information about the Direct Drive.
  • Direct Drive Lighting Mode—Specifies the operation mode for the Direct Drive lighting controller. The following values are valid:
    • Continuous—Continuously powers the connected light.
    • Strobe—Drives the connected light only when the smart camera sensor is exposed. Strobe mode allows you to temporarily overdrive the light.
  • Desired Current Level—Specifies the amount of current, in milliamperes, to use to drive the light. If the specified current is greater than the maximum current level for the connected light, the actual current level is lowered to protect the light.
  • 5 V TTL Strobe—When enabled, the NI 17xx generates a 5 V TTL strobe signal for use with an external lighting controller.
  • 24 V Strobe—When enabled, the NI 17xx generates a 24 V strobe signal for use with an external lighting controller.
  • Polarity—Specifies whether the strobe pulse is high or low while the smart camera is acquiring. In the rising mode, the strobe pulse is high when the camera is acquiring. In the falling mode, the strobe pulse is low when the camera is acquiring.

Compression Tab

The following controls are available on the Compression tab.

  • Compress Image—Compresses the acquired image according to the Image Quality setting you specify.
  • Image Quality—Indicates the quality of the compressed image. 0 indicates the image is highly compressed and is lower quality. 1000 indicates the image is not compressed.
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