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Macintosh Video Hardware

Troubleshooting Macintosh Video Devices

Device Discovery

If you are having trouble using the Image Acquisition Toolbox™ with a supported Macintosh video acquisition device, try the following:

  1. Install the Image Acquisition Toolbox OS Generic Video Interface Support Package. It includes the necessary files to use the macvideo adaptor.

    Starting with version R2014a, each adaptor is available separately through MATLAB® Add-Ons. See Image Acquisition Support Packages for Hardware Adaptors for information about installing the adaptors.

  2. Verify that you have supported libraries that work with the camera. Make sure you have Apple AV Foundation Libraries installed on your computer. If you do not have it installed, you can download it.

    The OS Generic Video Adaptor on Mac (macvideo) uses Apple AV Foundation Libraries starting with R2016b. The use of the Macintosh Video adaptor previously required that you have QuickTime installed on your computer. QuickTime is no longer required.

  3. Verify that your camera can be detected and images can be acquired by running applications that come with Macintosh OS, such as Photo Booth, iMovie or FaceTime. If you can start the utility, run the utility, and close the utility without encountering any errors, then the toolbox should be able to operate with your image acquisition device. If you encounter errors, resolve them before attempting to use the toolbox with the device.

    Note

    The Macintosh Video Adaptor is a generic interface and should only be used if you do not have a more specific adaptor to use with your device. If your device is a DCAM or FireWire IIDC device, use the DCAM (dcam) adaptor. If your device is GigE Vision® compliant, use the GigE (gige) adaptor. Use the Macintosh Video Adaptor only if there is no more specific option for your device.