NI-IMAQ for USB Cameras

NI-IMAQ for USB Cameras is a free software driver for acquiring images from any DirectShow imaging device into LabVIEW. These devices include USB cameras, webcams, microscopes, scanners, and many consumer-grade imaging products.

NI-IMAQ for USB Cameras is a free software driver for acquiring images from any DirectShow imaging device into LabVIEW. These devices include USB cameras, webcams, microscopes, scanners, and many consumer-grade imaging products. With the driver, users can configure their device, and acquire images into LabVIEW. When combined with the NI Vision Development Module (which is included in the LabVIEW Student Addition) students, professors, and academic professionals can analyze images with hundreds of functions for image processing, including filters, binary morphology, pattern matching, and color inspection. The NI Vision Development Module also includes the 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
- Choose between one-shot or continuous image acquisition
- Configure cameras programmatically (now includes the ability to programmatically select video modes without a popup dialog)
- Acquire directly into Vision Assistant for easy application prototyping
- Quickly acquire images with one VI using the USB Express VI

Please note that while NI-IMAQ for USB Cameras comes with complete documentation, it is not officially supported by National Instruments.

System Requirements:
- Windows 2000/XP (English, Italian, Japanese, French, Italian, Norwegian, Dutch, Spanish/Portuguese, Russian, and simple Chinese)
- LabVIEW 7.0 or higher with NI Vision 7.1 or higher for the USB LabVIEW support
- Vision Assistant 7.1 or higher for the USB Vision Assistant plugin module
- Vision Assistant 8.0 or higher for the USB Express VI

Known Issues:
- This driver only supports acquiring from one USB camera at a single time
- Opening and closing a camera session causes a small memory leak, so it is not recommended to do this repeatedly
- Pressing the Abort button in LabVIEW without closing the session properly can cause unexpected behavior
- Using an external image display window on a dual processor machine or hyper threaded machine can cause a hang when moving or clicking on the external display window

Related Links:
Requirements for Computer Running an EXE Using NI-IMAQ For USB Functions

Requirements

Filename: imaq_usb_installer_setup.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 »

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