Data acquisition is the sampling of the real world to generate data that can be manipulated by a computer. Sometimes abbreviated DAQ, data acquisition typically involves acquisition of signals and waveforms and processing the signals to obtain desired information. The components of data acquisition systems include appropriate sensors that convert any measurement parameter to an electrical signal, which is acquired by data acquisition hardware. Acquired data typically is displayed, analyzed, and stored on a PC. This is achieved by using vendor supplied interactive control software and hardware such as PowerLab, or custom displays and control can be accomplished using a programming language such as experix, LabVIEW, Visual Basic, or C. EPICS is used to build large scale data acquisition systems.