Does My Camera Use NI-IMAQ, NI-IMAQdx or NI-IMAQ I/O?

Issue Details

• I have downloaded and installed NI Vision Acquisition Software (VAS) but I see multiple drivers listed during installation. Does my camera or image acquisition device use NI-IMAQ, NI-IMAQdx, or NI-IMAQ I/O?
• What is the difference between NI-IMAQ, NI-IMAQdx and NI-IMAQ I/O?
• Which VAS driver is suitable for my camera?

Solution

The NI-IMAQ, NI-IMAQdx, and NI-IMAQ I/O are driver packages automatically installed by NI Vision Acquisition Software (VAS) for use with different image acquisition devices. Each driver includes a set of LabVIEW VIs that can be used for high-level control. 

NI-IMAQ
The NI-IMAQ driver software supports National Instruments hardware only and is needed to use the following image acquisition devices:

• National Instruments Camera Link Frame Grabbers*
• National Instruments Parallel Digital Frame Grabbers
• National Instruments Analog Frame Grabbers
• National Instruments 17xx Smart Cameras

NI-IMAQdx
The NI-IMAQdx driver software is needed to use third-party image acquisition devices which use the following buses and standards: 

• Gigabit Ethernet Cameras Supporting GigE Vision
• FireWire IEEE 1394 Cameras
• USB 2.0 Cameras Supporting Microsoft DirectShow
• USB 3.0 Cameras Supporting USB3 Vision

NI-IMAQ I/O
The NI-IMAQ I/O driver software is a smaller driver API used exclusively to program the National Instruments Vision RIO image acquisition cards including the following cards:

• NI PCIe-8255R
• NI PCI-8254R
• NI PCIe-8237R
• NI PCIe-1473R
• NI PCIe-1473R-LX110
• NI 1483 FlexRIO Adapter Module

Note: The National Instruments Vision RIO cards will require both the NI-IMAQ and NI-IMAQ I/O drivers.
*In later versions of VAS, Camera Link Frame Grabbers can use IMAQdx as well

Additional Information

VAS also includes libraries for programming in C, C++, C#, Visual Basic, and Visual Basic .NET.