The Imaging Technology frame grabber, IC-PCI is a half-slot PCI bus image capture card, which is used in conjunction with the ITEX -IC software. The latter is a generic term for Imaging Technology software functions, callable and linkable with C language application programs. ITEX -IC refers to the aggregate sum of sub-libraries or software modules for the Image capture family. ITEX -IC is supported under Windows and protected mode DOS with the WATCOM 32-bit C/C++ compilers. It provides the full support for Microsoft Visual C/C++ and Visual Basic, allowing Windows programmers the environment of their choice. It features one of the fastest sustained image data transfer rates to PC memory (up to 120 MB/sec to the PCI bus and more than 90 MB/sec to the host memory, depending on the host PC). Transfer rates faster than real time (< 33 ms) allow the good use of the CPU for host based processing, as it is not tied up with arbitrating bus operations. Display is performed completely by the host display processor. Data is transferred out of the IC-PCI over the PCI bus to the display card or the host memory. The frame grabber captures the image at the camera speed of 38 frames per second. The resulting image retains a majority of the characteristic intensities and spatial frequencies of the original. Subsequently, the image is stored on the hard-disk of the computer.

In the experiments reported in the present module, 45 sequential images have been recorded from short-duration transient experiments. The precision timer function allows correct setting and estimation of the intermediate time between sequential images. Using the image processing software these images are digitized frame by frame and converted into a hue matrix. The digitized data becomes the basis for the measurement of temperature. The temperature data can be used for the evaluation of the local heat transfer coefficient.