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How is the
Pixera 120es different from the Pixera Professional?
How
does Pixera's DiRactor™ technology achieve 4x the actual image sensor resolution?
Do
Pixera DiRactor™-based digital camera systems interpolate or "double"
pixels to gain resolution?
What are the new features of the
Pixera 120es?
What are the
advantages of the Enhanced Image Processing Engine?
What microscopy
applications was the 120es designed for?
What
microscopy illumination techniques are suitable for the 120es?
Is any software included with
the Pixera 120es?
Is the Pixera 120es
sensitive enough to do fluorescence?
In
general, what are some of the tips and techniques to know in order to take advantage of
the frame averaging and histogram functions?
What applications
are in the Pixera 120es Application Suite?
What are the
image sensor specifications for the Pixera 120es?
What is the
Signal-to-Noise (S/N) ratio of the Pixera 120es?
What is the sensitivity of the
Pixera 120es?
What about
exposure, shutter speeds and maximum exposure time?
What type of
performance is typical for the Pixera 120es?
What operating
systems are supported for the Pixera 120es?
What are the
computer system requirements for the Pixera 120es?
How do you mount the Pixera
120es to a microscope?
Is the 120es
Application Suite available for the Professional?
Where can I purchase the Pixera 120es?
How
does the Pixera 120es compare against "cooled CCD" cameras?
How
does the Pixera 120es compare against other "mega-pixel" cameras?
How does the Pixera
120es compare against 3-CCD cameras?
What about technical support and
warranty?
How is the Pixera
120es different from the Pixera Professional?
The 120es and the Professional are both 1.2 million pixel digital
camera systems and they share many of the same capabilities. In fact, the 120es has all
the same features and functions of the Professional, but has enhanced image processing
functions and precision measurement tools.
Essentially, the Professional is a great choice for almost every
microscopy imaging requirement where there is a significant level of light from the
sample. The Professional is a 3 lux camera and is appropriate for many bright fluorescence
applications. The Professional is still the price/performance leader in its category.
The 120es is the right choice if you are imaging medium-low light
fluorescence, low light or low contrast samples; or if you would need to use the precision
measurement tools of the 120es. With the 120es you get the all the capabilities of the
Professional, plus a lot more.
Back to 120es FAQ >
How
does Pixera's DiRactor™ technology achieve 4x the actual image sensor resolution?
The patented DiRactor™ light refractor mechanism shifts the
incident light from the subject, with sub-micron accuracy, and 4 spatially shifted
exposures (250,000 pixels per exposure) of the subject are captured. After image
processing, the maximum resolution of the resulting images is 1.2 million pixels.
All pixel samples are downloaded unprocessed in analog form to the
interface card where the raw analog pixel data is converted to raw digital pixel data and
transferred to computer for image processing.
Back to 120es FAQ >
Do
Pixera DiRactor™-based digital camera systems interpolate or "double"
pixels to gain resolution?
Pixera's DiRactor™ technology results in real, non-interpolated
pixels samples equal to 4x the actual pixel resolution of our CCD. So the actual number of
pixel samples that are processed are not interpolated or the result of
"doubling". Just like all other 1-CCD color cameras, there is interpolation for
color processing and image adjustment for display aspect ratio.
In addition, Pixera's DiRactor™ and proprietary software image
processing technologies result in superior image quality and color reproduction compared
to other 1-CCD cameras. Pixera's sophisticated image processing algorithms result in
images that have very accurate colors and significantly reduced color aliasing and noise.
Back to 120es FAQ >
What are
the new features of the Pixera 120es?
The Pixera 120es provides all the features and functions of the
popular Pixera Professional 1.2 million pixel digital camera system, plus…
A dynamic new camera head design.
A 2nd Generation, Enhanced Image Processing Engine
Up to 10x more sensitivity and up to 16x increased S/N ratio
compared to the Pixera Professional.
Pixera 120es Application Suite:
-
Studio Pro Enhanced for the 120es!
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Viewfinder Pro Enhanced for the 120es!
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TWAIN Viewfinder Pro driver Enhanced for the 120es!
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Motion
-
Album
Studio Pro - Precision Measurement Tools.
Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT Version 4.1
Back to 120es FAQ >
What are the
advantages of the Enhanced Image Processing Engine?
Frame Averaging
Captures from 1 to 256 frames, at any image resolution; accumulates
the unprocessed/uncompressed pixel data in software and averages the accumulated pixel
data by the number of frames captured.
Advantages
Increases the Signal-to-Noise Ratio in low-light images, by up to
16x with no loss of definition (up to the camera's rated maximum of 52 dB). The rate of
S/N is calculated by taking the square root of the number of frames captured (i.e. 256
frames captured = 16x S/N). Reduces the noise in low-light, low signal images
Increases the sensitivity of the camera up to 10x (from 3 lux to 0.3
lux),
Histogram Equalization
Performs histogram equalization on the 16-bit data (48-bit RGB) of
accumulated frames. Only 2 accumulated frames are necessary to achieve greater than 8-bit
precision.
Advantages
Significantly enhances low light and low contrast images through
better distribution of contrast.
Expand Contrast Function
Performs expansion of the histogram, on the 16-bit data (48 bit RGB)
of accumulated frames, centered on each color channel's mean value.
Advantages
Significantly increases/enhances the contrast of low light and/or
low contrast images while preserving the color balance of the image.
Adjust Levels Function
Clips the highlight (bright) and shadow (dark) points of the
histogram and expands the acquired image's contrast.
Advantages
Significantly increases/enhances the contrast for high tonal
separation in images with the limitation that this technique may slightly distort the
color balance of the image.
Back to 120es FAQ >
What
microscopy applications was the 120es designed for?
The Pixera 120es was designed to satisfy the requirements for a
broad range of biomedical and industrial applications especially those applications that
involve:
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Fluoresence
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Low Contrast Imaging
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Low Light Level Imaging
Back to 120es FAQ >
What microscopy
illumination techniques are suitable for the 120es?
The Pixera 120es is a very good choice for use with wide variety of
illumination techniques including:
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Brightfield Transmitted/Reflected
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Darkfield Transmitted/Reflected
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Fluorescence
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Nomarksi Transmitted/Reflected
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Polarized Light
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Phase Contrast
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Differential Interference Contrast
Back to 120es FAQ >
Is any
software included with the Pixera 120es?
Yes! Pixera bundles the Pixera 120es Application Suite with each
digital camera system. The Pixera 120es Application Suite offers a full set of powerful
image capture, editing, manipulation, measurement and archiving tools. The integrated set
of applications delivers professional quality flexibility and functionality for capturing,
analyzing, manipulating and archiving digital images with low noise, accurate colors,
sharp edges and excellent detail.
Back to 120es FAQ >
Is
the Pixera 120es sensitive enough to do fluorescence?
Absolutely. The new frame averaging and dynamic histogram functions
were added specifically to support fluorescent, low light, and low contrast imaging
requirements. Since the Pixera 120es has a sensitivity of .3 lux when 256 frames are
accumulated/averaged, many low light and fluorescence applications work well.
However there are some limitations. Very low light or dim
fluorescence samples (below what your eye can see through the eyepieces) that require long
exposure times may not capture well.
Back to 120es FAQ >
In
general, what are some of the tips and techniques to know in order to take advantage of
the frame averaging and histogram functions?
Number of frames to accumulate for averaging.
This is very sample and illumination dependent. Use a number of
frames just large enough to reduce unwanted background noise. The number of frames to use
depends upon the signal strength of the subject of interest compared to the surrounding
background noise. More is usually better, but the trade-off is the time necessary to
accumulate a larger number of frames than is required.
Expand Contrast function.
This function uses a default setting of 25 (± 2.5 standard
deviations from the average signal) for the shadow and highlight points. Optimal settings
depend on the subject, illumination, and user requirements.
Increase the contrast of the acquired image by reducing the shadow
and highlight value.
Decrease the contrast of the acquired image by increasing the
highlight value.
Dark current noise can be reduced in the acquired image by reducing
the shadow value.
Adjust Levels function.
This function uses a defualt setting of 5 (± 0.5% of the dark and
light tones in the acquired image) for both the shadow and highlight points. Optimal
settings depend on the subject, illumination, and user requirements.
Increase the contrast of the acquired image by increasing the shadow
and highlight values.
This function does not reduce the contrast of the acquired image.
Use the Expand Contrast function.
Back to 120es FAQ >
What applications are
in the Pixera 120es Application Suite?
Studio Pro provides sophisticated image manipulation and analysis
tools required for many scientific and industrial applications. A wide variety of
functions and filters for modifying and enhancing images are included. Studio Pro supports
the most popular image formats; BMP, JPG, TIFF, FLASHPIX, and DIB.
New! Precision Measurement tools include; Line and Perimeter Trace
functions calculate distances, Angle measurement, and a Centroid Function displays the
area and center of gravity of a specified area.
New! Histogram Tool graphically displays the contrast distribution
of any image.
Viewfinder Pro is the window into the advanced imaging capabilities
of the 120es. Users access a powerful, flexible, yet easy to use interface for adjusting
capture resolution, white balance calibration, contrast/brightness, color balance, as well
as the new frame averaging and dynamic histogram functions - equalization, contrast
expansion, and level adjustment.
Use the Customize property sheet to customize the viewfinder user
interface and functionality with four tabs; Capture Processing, Sharpen, Capture
Destination and Toolbars, to satisfy your particular requirements.
Pre-sets for brightness, contrast, RGB color balance, gamma levels
remain constant during image preview and capture procedures, so "what you see is what
you get…"
Synchronized Preview/Image capture sequence re-creates exactly what
the viewfinder displays
An easy-to-use "Focus Indicator" features a unique
color-coded digital display that tells you when you are focused and ready to capture a
perfect image on the first try.
TWAIN Viewfinder Pro provides the same set of features and
capabilities of Viewfinder Pro to users who want to capture images directly into popular
3rd party image analysis or image editing programs. TWAIN Viewfinder Pro works with any
TWAIN Version 1.6, 32-bit driver interface.
Some representative compatible programs are:
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