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  5. What Is NI InstrumentStudio™ Software?

What Is NI InstrumentStudio?

InstrumentStudio is companion software for NI PXI systems that provides multi-instrument measurements in seconds and accelerates your path to automation. InstrumentStudio takes measurements, exports settings for reuse in code, and debugs execution behavior.


InstrumentStudio is included with all PXI modular instruments. Advanced automation features are available in InstrumentStudio Professional.

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Quick Setup, Seamless Automation

Transitioning from manual test setups to automation doesn’t have to be difficult. Explore how to choose the right tools to configure measurements quickly, automate your processes efficiently, and reclaim your time.
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What Can I Do with InstrumentStudio?

InstrumentStudio enables engineers to take measurements with their NI PXI modular instruments without writing code.

InstrumentStudio automatically detects the hardware in your system and creates a multi-instrument user interface to use it. Multiple instruments are visible at the same time to make it easier to use them simultaneously. Engineers can configure both the instruments and the user interface itself and save these in a project along with data captures.

InstrumentStudio accelerates development of automated device validation systems, from DUT bring-up to automated test debug.

Every automated validation system requires interactive exploration to get started. InstrumentStudio facilitates the configuration and manual measurement steps in this process and sets you up for successful automation. Focus on exploring your DUT via instrument panels and collaborate with your team via data export without worrying about writing code, then export to configuration files once they’ve established the right configuration.

InstrumentStudio sustains high-throughput automated production test systems through monitoring and debugging capabilities for NI PXI systems.

Testing modern devices requires complex automated test sequences which incur significant cost if interrupted. InstrumentStudio enables engineers to see operations as they execute, even while the automated sequence is running. If an instrument needs adjustment, engineers can assume control of the system using InstrumentStudio, reconfigure settings, and resume execution—without restarting the sequence.

Test software developers use InstrumentStudio to deploy operator interfaces with custom logic.

Engineers in organizations with centralized automated test expertise need to build scalable, deployable, standardized test protocols. The InstrumentStudio Measurement Plug-In SDK enables custom measurement logic in NI LabVIEW, Python, or .NET which can be executed in InstrumentStudio Professional and TestStand, letting engineers focus on measurements instead of user interfaces.

Example Diagram of an InstrumentStudio Application

The following diagram shows how InstrumentStudio is used to take a measurement with an NI PXI system. When InstrumentStudio opens, it automatically detects connected hardware and can create a unified panel to view and configure all the connected instruments. Engineers can export their measurement configurations to file for reuse in automation code, while maintaining visibility into instrument state for debugging. InstrumentStudio Professional enables custom extensions to the environment and advanced automation capabilities.

The diagram provides a sample workflow of a user with InstrumentStudio. This walks through interactive measurements, exporting to automation, and monitoring live signals for debugging.

InstrumentStudio Features and Benefits

Learn about the capabilities of InstrumentStudio that accelerate and sustain PXI test systems.

Interactive Instrument Panels

InstrumentStudio uses interactive panels to configure and visualize measurements on your instruments. InstrumentStudio integrates multiple panels into each tab in the interface to make it easier to work with multiple instruments at a time.


  • Instrument-specific panels—Each panel exposes settings that are relevant to the active instrument, like oscilloscope triggering and cursors.
  • Logical panel arrangements—The InstrumentStudio environment allows larger panels to be arranged side by side for simultaneous visualization, or consolidated into tabs, similar to a web browser.
  • One-click data export—The Capture Data button on larger panels exports signals and measurements to either TDMS or CSV file formats, along with appropriate metadata like instrument configuration.

Configuration Export for Automation

InstrumentStudio can export the hardware configuration represented by an instrument panel to a file that can be used in a variety of programming languages for automation.


  • Iterative configuration—Engineers iteratively tune instruments to their needs without needing to worry about programming.
  • Serialization—The exact configuration for the instrument is captured in a file that preserves the settings engineers have validated.
  • Configuration import—Engineers pick up where they left off by importing configuration files in source code, rather than resetting settings using driver APIs.

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How InstrumentStudio Connects to the NI Software Platform

Diagram that shows how InstrumentStudio works with other NI Software

Do More with the NI LabVIEW+ Suite

The LabVIEW+ Suite includes LabVIEW plus InstrumentStudio Professional to assist with measurement, analysis, and test. Get NI’s test executive software, data acquisition software, measurement data analytics software, and more in the LabVIEW+ Suite.

Explore LabVIEW+ Suite

The Future of InstrumentStudio

NI is committed to investing in InstrumentStudio and ensuring the decisions we make are aligned to your needs and priorities.
View NI InstrumentStudio roadmap

Supported Hardware for NI InstrumentStudio

InstrumentStudio supports NI PXI modular instruments, such as oscilloscopes, source measure units (SMUs), vector signal transceivers (VSTs), and others, as well as third-party hardware via the InstrumentStudio Professional SCPI interface. Consult the latest InstrumentStudio User Manual to confirm support for hardware outside standard instrument classes, such as multifunction DAQ devices, NI PXI switches, and instruments in USB and PCI(e) form factors.

NI PXI oscilloscope modules with modular PXI hardware design

NI PXI Oscilloscopes

PXI oscilloscopes are flexible, modular, software‐defined instruments designed for both time‐ and frequency‐domain measurements. They feature advanced triggering modes, deep onboard memory, and a driver software API with data streaming and signal analysis functions.​

Learn more about NI PXI oscilloscopes
NI PXI source measure unit modules for precision source and measurement.

NI PXI Source Measure Units (SMUs)

PXI SMUs combine high-precision source and measure capability with features designed to reduce test time and increase flexibility. NI PXI SMUs provide simultaneous IV measurements, with DMM-class accuracy and speed, and are programmed with the first-in-class NI-DCPower driver.​


Learn more about NI PXI SMUs

InstrumentStudio Resources

See all InstrumentStudio resources
Product Documentation

InstrumentStudio User Manual

Find complete product documentation for getting started with and using InstrumentStudio.

Product Documentation

InstrumentStudio Release Notes

Get information related to a specific InstrumentStudio version release including release notes, known issues, bug fixes, and behavior changes.

InstrumentStudio System Requirements

Your system must meet the following requirements to use InstrumentStudio.

System

  • Intel® Pentium® 4 G1 equivalent or later (Intel Core™ i5 equivalent or higher recommended)
  • At least 10 GB of disk space
  • 4 GB of RAM
  • 1024 x 768 screen resolution (1366 x 768 or higher recommended)

Operating System Support

  • Windows 11
  • Windows 10
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Server 2016

NI PXI Device Drivers—one or more of the following instrument drivers:

  • NI-DCPower
  • NI-DMM
  • NI-FGEN
  • NI-SCOPE
  • NI-RFSG
  • NI-RFSA

Are you ready to get started with NI InstrumentStudio Professional?

InstrumentStudio is included with all NI PXI modular instruments and installs by default with all NI PXI modular instrument drivers.
Start free trialCompare editions and pricing
NI PXI vector signal transceiver modules for RF and baseband testing.

NI PXI Vector Signal Transceivers

The PXI VST combines an RF and baseband vector signal analyzer and generator with a user-programmable FPGA and high-speed serial and parallel digital interfaces for real-time signal processing and control from baseband to mmWave.​


Learn more about NI PXI VSTs