Chapter 1 introduction, Introduction – National Instruments Interface Device NI PCI-1426 User Manual
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© National Instruments Corporation
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Introduction
The NI 1426 is an interface device that supports a diverse range of Camera
Link-compatible cameras. The NI 1426 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 NI 1426 is
ideal for both industrial and scientific environments.
The NI 1426 is easy to install and configure. It ships with NI-IMAQ, the
National Instruments complete Vision driver software you can use to
directly control the NI 1426 and other National Instruments Vision
hardware products. With NI-IMAQ, you can quickly and easily start your
applications without having to program the device at the register level.
The NI 1426 supports the Camera Link Base configuration. The
MDR 26-pin connector provides access to base configuration cameras. For
further configuration information, refer to the
section of Chapter 2,
The 15-pin D-SUB connector has four external TTL input/output (I/O)
lines you can use as triggers or as high-speed digital I/O lines. Should you
choose not to use the TTL I/O lines, the 15-pin D-SUB connector also
provides access to two optically isolated inputs and two RS-422 inputs.
These inputs can be individually selected in software.
For more advanced digital or analog system triggering or digital I/O lines,
you can use the NI 1426 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 NI 1426 uses the
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 1426
and up to four National Instruments DAQ, Motion Control, or image
acquisition devices.
For detailed specifications of the NI 1426, refer to the Specifications
section of Getting Started with the NI PCI-1426.