Till now we have used MATLAB as a powerful and versatile image processing tool. In the previous chapter, we also started exploring its video reading and writing capabilities. You may be surprised to find out that MATLAB has another useful functionality. It can be used to capture and record images and videos shot either by external cameras connected to a PC, or by internal cameras embedded in laptops. The tool that supports these capabilities is included in the Image Acquisition Toolbox and it is called Image Acquisition Tool.
The Image Acquisition Tool is a simple, yet effective, Graphical User Interface (GUI) that enables MATLAB to turn your PC to a Digital Video Recorder (DVR). It is invoked by simply typing its function name in the command line as follows:
>> imaqtool
Once it is called, the window that appears looks like the following screenshot:
In the Image Acquisition Tool window, there are several subwindows that are used for acquisition...