There is an IMAQ image display property that can be used if an IMAQ image display is not showing the details of the image that you know to be there. The image display's “Conversion Method” property should be set to something other than the <0> value that the Conversion Method property will return for the display when it is called in "read" mode without having previously set anything.
I have found descriptions for most of the settings that can be used with this property in the old "322916b IMAQ Vision Concepts Manual 2003.pdf" document within the "Mapping Methods for 16-Bit Image Display" section. But that document neglects to mention what I can expect to have happen when "Default" is used (it's different than what I see happening with the image if the Conversion Method property is left in its default <0> state).
The other property value option that is undocumented is "Most Significant Bits". I can guess what it might be about but I'd like to see the description in NI's words.
I went looking on the NI website for a newer version of the 2003 Vision Concepts manual and found the attached 2023 document, but it is no better in this respect than is the 2003 document. Finally, the HELP documentation within LabVIEW was no help at all for this property or its possible values.