Driver

Drivers for image sources as FireWire cameras, Video-to-FireWire converters, frame grabbers etc used in areas such as security, engineering, science and medicine follow one of the following two strategies:

• The hardware comes with a device driver AND an SDK which allows the developer to access this driver. This approach is behind the times and only makes sense in special cases.
• The hardware comes with a driver which incorporates this particular hardware into the operating system. In this case the application software is hardware independent as it does not access special hardware but uses the operating system as a kind of 'mediator'.

The Imaging Source offers so-called WDM Stream Class driver for various video sources. WDM means 'Windows Driver Model'. WDM Stream Class drivers are the 'official' way to incorporate hardware which outputs audio and video into Windows.

Please note:

• If you intend to work with certified drivers (see glossary entry WHQL) you will have to follow the Windows Driver Model (see glossary entry WDM). All other types of drivers run 'unofficially' under Windows. It is likely that the successors of Windows XP will refuse to install any uncertified driver. This will definitely increase the operating system's stability.
• There are different classes of WDM drivers. The use of image and video streams requires WDM Stream Class drivers.

White Paper: What is WDM?

Detailed information: Drivers for Microsoft Windows (WDM, Ad Oculos & TWAIN)

Glossary Table of Contents