National Instruments NI PCI-1426 Introduction

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 Camera Link and the

NI14 26 section of Chapter 2, Hardware Overview.

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.