NI-IMAQ for USB Cameras

Starting in August 2009, Vision Acquisition Software officially supports DirectShow imaging devices as part of the IMAQdx driver. You may download the driver at the following location: Vision Acquisition Software 2009

NI-IMAQ for USB Cameras driver software allows users to configure any DirectShow imaging device and acquire images into LabVIEW. Devices that  support this feature include USB cameras, webcams, microscopes, scanners, and many consumer-grade imaging products. 

Students and academic professionals can use this software with the NI Vision Development Module (included in the LabVIEW Student Edition) to analyze images with the aid of functions for image processing, including filters, binary morphology, pattern matching, and color inspection. The NI Vision Development Module also includes Vision Assistant for prototyping different functions, benchmarking inspections, and automatically generating code.

With NI-IMAQ for USB Cameras, you can:
- Acquire images from any USB imaging device with DirectShow support
- Select One-Shot or Continuous Image Acquisition modes
- Configure cameras programmatically, including the ability to programmatically select video modes
- Acquire directly into Vision Assistant for easy application prototyping
- Use the USB Express VI to quickly acquire images

Note: Although NI-IMAQ for USB Cameras comes with  documentation, it is not officially supported by the National Instruments Corp.

System Requirements:
- Windows Microsoft Windows Vista/Vista x64/XP/2000  (English, Italian, Japanese, French, Italian, Norwegian, Dutch, Spanish/Portuguese, Russian, or simple Chinese).
- LabVIEW 7.0 or later.  
- Vision Development Module 7.1 or later
- NI Vision Acquisition Software 7.1 or later, for USB LabVIEW support.
- Vision Assistant 7.1 or later, for  USB Vision Assistant plug-in module support.
- Vision Assistant 8.0 or later, for USB Express VI support.

Known Issues:
- NI-IMAQ for USB Cameras only supports a single acquisition from one device at a time.
- Launching and closing camera sessions repeatedly will cause a minor memory leak.
- Exiting LabVIEW without closing the session properly will cause a system failure.
- Using an external image display window on a dual-processor machine or hyper-threaded machine may cause the computer to freeze when moving or clicking the external display window.

Related Links:
Requirements for Computer Running an EXE Using NI-IMAQ For USB Functions
Products & Services: Vision Acquisition Software

Requirements

Filename: ni_imaq_usb_installer_86.exe

Software Requirements

Language(s): LabVIEW

Hardware Requirements

Hardware Group: Vision (IMAQ)
Driver: NI-IMAQ for USB Cameras 1.0

Reader Comments | Submit a comment »

labview-compatible cameras
Hi, can someone give me some ideas on what type/brand of usb cameras are suitable for labview? i need to use it with labview vision module and image acquisition IMAQ Cheers
- Jan 4, 2010

camera
is there a list of camera's that are compatible or how can we check if are camera's are compatible?
- Nov 21, 2009

u say some solution but it isnt work for me, labview 8.5 and vista os i renamed folders and tested it. it didnt install
- farhad rastegar, delta. farhad.rp@gmail.com - Nov 21, 2009

Property cannot be set programmatically
The acquistion properties cannot be set programmatically... only possible via a dialog, very uncomfortable.
- Sep 30, 2008

Vision Develppment Module is necessary for LabVIEW use
Hi, unfortunately, skuehn is right - to use the IMAQ for USB driver with LabVIEW, the corresponding Vision Development Module must be be installed beforehand.
- Sebastian F. Kleinau, National Instruments Germany GmbH. sebastian.kleinau@ni.com - Aug 25, 2008

Works great under LV8.5 without any special modification.
- techunwu@gmail.com - Jul 26, 2008

It's kind of handy for messing around but the memory leak is pretty brutal. With my app, it crashed after a couple hundred captures with the Snap example (had to reboot to fix it). I was alternating between two different cameras though, so it's possible that exacerbates the problem.
- Ben Buckner, MetroLaser. - Jun 25, 2008

IMAQ USB vs. Vista
Hello! Any changes to make IMAQ USB drives compatible with Windows Vista??? Thank you!
- Libor Vitek, OPROX, a.s.. libor.vitek@oprox.cz - Jun 16, 2008

Same version problem
This installer does not even work on my system with LabVIEW 8.2 AND LabVIEW 7.1 installed!!!
- Feb 28, 2008

use without Vision Dev Mod?
I am running LabVIEW 8.2 and would like to simply control my USB digital camera with NI-IMAQ. I don't need to do any image processing. Is it necessary that I have the Vision Development Module in addition to LV 8.2 to run this? Thank you!
- skuehn@rockefeller.edu - Feb 12, 2008

Same version problem
I used the process submitted by MBFlower and I still cannot get past the "must have Labview 7.1 or higher" step. I have Labview 8.5 with the July 2007 Vision installed. Any ideas?
- Jan 7, 2008

With Labview8.2 you just need to rename the labview8.0 folder. Start the .exe file. You must see un new folder labview8.0 with the needed files.
- c.jai@free.fr - Jan 2, 2008

Thanks, MBflower. I followed your instruction and it worked perfectly. Akira
- Nov 21, 2007

Fix for LV 8.5
Worked on 8.20. Didn't work on 8.5 until I made some changes. 1. Rename the "LabVIEW 8.5" folder to "LabVIEW 8.2" (If you have LabVIEW 8.2 still installed, rename that folder to something else first) 2. Install the EXE file for USB. 3. Change LabVIEW 8.5 folder back to "LabVIEW 8.5" 4. Find "vision7.mnu" and copy it into this directory: C:\Program Files\National Instruments\LabVIEW 8.5 \menus\Categories\VisionMotion Step 4 puts the icon back into the submenu in Vision+Motion.
- MBflower - Sep 12, 2007

IMAQ USB works great
I use IMAQ USB for grabbing single shots of edges and calculating MTF. It works great.
- p.spiegel@pauker-ingenieure.de - May 22, 2007

LV8.2 issue
It is impossible to install IMAQ for USB ver. 1.1.1 if the only LabVIEW is 8.20. ToDo: 1. Install LabVIEW 8.0 (evaluation or registered) 2. Launch IMAQ for USB installation 3. Temporary rename "LabVIEW 8.0" folder to "original 8.0" 4. Finish IMAQ for USB installation. It will be installed in the "LabVIEW 8.0" folder. 5. Copy this "new" LabVIEW 8.0 folder both into LabVIEW 8.2 folder and renamed "original 8.0" folder. 6. Rename "original 8.0" folder back to "LabVIEW 8.0". Enjoy! PS: It is possible to copy just only installed files. But how we can find all of them? 8-)
- Evgeny Sviridov, CATI. jack@cati.ru - May 15, 2007

doesnt work with my labview 8
When installing it says I ned to have labview 7. or higher...but I have the 8.x ... what am I doind wrong?!?
- Joao Pinto. joao_icaro@yahoo.com - Apr 26, 2007

Any availability in Vista?
- john_s_ames@yahoo.com - Apr 25, 2007

Deploy apps
Can anyone please write down what is necessary to deploy an application that uses this driver !
- Marcel Janssen, TPO Displays Europe B.V.. m.janssen@tpo.biz - Dec 28, 2006

LV 8.20
It works on my LabVIEW 8.20 !
- Dec 20, 2006

LV 8.2
Does'nt work with LV 8.2
- Dec 4, 2006