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Soft Imaging System ColorView III Manual

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Summary of Contents for Soft Imaging System ColorView III

  • Page 1 Manual ColorView III...
  • Page 2 We at Soft Imaging System GmbH have tried to make the information contained in this manual as accurate and reliable as possible. Nevertheless, Soft Imaging System GmbH disclaims any warranty of any kind, whether expressed or implied, as to any matter whatsoever relating to this manual, including without limitation the merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    ColorView III The ColorView III - camera Handbook Layout Camera and light microscope WHITE BALANCE ..............7 Monitor Settings for White Balance ........8 Executing White Balance ..........8 Online shading correction OPERATION OF THE SHADING CORRECTION ....10 ACQUIRING CORRECTION IMAGES ........11 Enabling Shading Correction ..........13 Repeat or Update the Reference Acquisitions ....13...
  • Page 4 ColorView III • White balance ............17 Color Settings ............17 Sharpen filter ............18 Automatic Gain Display and Scaling ...... 19 Black balance ............20 Sharpness Monitor ..........21 Partial Readout ............22 SNAPSHOT ................23 INTELLIGENT EXPOSURE ............ 23 NetCam INSTALLING THE WEB SERVER ..........
  • Page 5 Appendix I: Microscope Settings Appendix II: Camera Installation INSTALLATION PROCEDURE - WINDOWS 2000 ....51 INSTALLATION PROCEDURE - WINDOWS XP ....64 WHEN ENCOUNTERING PROBLEMS WITH THE CAMERA... CE DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY...
  • Page 6 ColorView III •...
  • Page 7 ColorView III The ColorView III - camera Definition ColorView III is a quick, high resolution CCD color camera used for bio- medical and material sciences applications. It was especially developed for acquisitions using light microscopy, has a special compact design, and can be connected to all types of light-microscopes via the C-mount.
  • Page 8 Usage in Black & White In addition to the normal color mode, ColorView III also offers a black & white mode mode. The chapter entitled "Usage in Black & White mode" describes the setup of this mode as well as the alterations in camera usage.

  • Page 9: Camera And Light Microscope

    Camera and light microscope Camera and light microscope Both the camera settings as well as the microscope settings are vital for the quality of the image to be acquired. Only the most important rules for the mi- croscope settings are mentioned here; a more thorough explanation to the topic can be found in the appendix: The illumination must be parallel.

  • Page 10: Monitor Settings For White Balance

    ColorView III • White Balance Monitor Settings for White Balance Monitor Settings The monitor settings are decisive for the image you see on the monitor. Set your monitor to the appropriate color temperature, should your device allow this. To do this, compare the image's color impression on the monitor and in the eyepiece.

  • Page 11: Online Shading Correction

    Online shading correction Click the Set ROI for White Balance button. Pull the ROI's red frame shown in the image document to a position which is more or less a uniform white or gray. Change the size of the area by keeping the mouse depressed and moving the mouse.

  • Page 12: Operation Of The Shading Correction

    For a shading correction, the image errors are first determined in order to be able to make corrections to the acquired image. Using the online shading correction of ColorView III, these corrections already take place in the live- image. Operation of the Shading Correction...

  • Page 13: Acquiring Correction Images

    Acquiring Correction Images es, you will be asked for the set methods of acquisition. Should you want to employ various methods, you must repeat the acquisition of the correction image for each method used. Note When using a magnification changer, correction images must be acquired for each possible total magnification.
  • Page 14 ColorView III • Acquiring Correction Images Follow the wizard's instructions to acquire the reference images. Reflected Light Mode Disable the preprocessing and postprocessing of the image acquisi- tion. To do this, disable both Enabled check boxes in the Macro tab of...

  • Page 15: Enabling Shading Correction

    Enabling Shading Correction Enabling Shading Correction When finishing the reference acquisitions, you will be asked if you want to activate the online shading correction. Independent of the decision as of now, you can activate or deactivate the online shading correction with the Image >...

  • Page 16: Use Of The Online Shading Correction

    ColorView III • Use of the Online Shading Correction Altering the lamp voltage Smaller alterations made to the lamp voltage do not influence the online shading correction. Larger alterations cannot be balanced by the online shading correction. Therefore, use the same lamp voltage you utilize in your normal routine use for acquiring the correction images.

  • Page 17: Image Acquisition

    Image Acquisition Image Acquisition The chapter about "image acquisitions" deals with the various acquisition methods you can use with the image-analysis software. Acquisition Methods The software offers you various acquisition methods for various tasks. Live-Acquisition When using live acquisition, the image is continually transferred from the camera to the monitor.

  • Page 18: Camera Control

    & white operation can be found in the section entitled "Operation in Black and White Mode". Camera Control dialog box for a ColorView III cam- era using color operation Exposure Time The exposure time required for high-quality acquisitions depends on the il- lumination, the properties of the sample, and the camera being used.

  • Page 19: White Balance

    Camera Control photo". Should the result not be adequate enough, you can then increase the lamp voltage. After you have increased the lamp voltage, it is recom- mended that you redo the white balance. Exposure Time You can set the camera's exposure time in the Exposure time group.

  • Page 20: Sharpen Filter

    ColorView III • Camera Control gray values will be spread more significantly than the brighter ones. The re- sult will be enhanced contrast in the dark image areas. The image as a whole will become lighter. Saturation Saturation slide control enables you to alter the color rendering from a black and white signal to maximum color saturation.

  • Page 21: Automatic Gain Display And Scaling

    Automatic Gain Display and Scaling ColorView III uses a dynamic range of 12 bits in black and white mode or 3 x 12 bits in color mode. However, only 8 bits, respectively 3 x 8 bits can be used for the display and additional editing of images. Therefore, the data transferred from the camera to the computer must be adjusted directly dur- ing acquisition so that this condition is fulfilled.

  • Page 22: Black Balance

    ColorView III • Camera Control Histogram cal- Click the Histogram calculation on full image button to carry out the contrast culation on ROI optimization on the basis of a rectangular area within the image. You can use this option if relevant details are visible in a part of the image. The dis- play can thus be optimized for this area.

  • Page 23: Sharpness Monitor

    Camera Control Change the size of the area by keeping the mouse depressed and moving the mouse. The ROI used for the black balance cannot be made to any large size possible. Rightclick to confirm position and size of the ROI. The values are calculated for the black balance on the area defined in such a way.

  • Page 24: Partial Readout

    ColorView III • Camera Control How to... This is how you set the sharpness monitor for good acquisitions: Set all other parameters (microscope settings, exposure time, white balance) optimally. The application of the sharpness monitor should be the last step before image acquisition.

  • Page 25: Snapshot

    Snapshot The image area set with the ROI for Partial Readout applies to the following snapshot, should Partial Readout be enabled. Acquire a snapshot. Either a partial readout or a clipping is possible all the time. A partial readout is disabled if you enable a clipping on the Format tab located in the Config-...
  • Page 26 ColorView III • intelligent Exposure Calibration intelligent Exposure arranges linear correlation between the exposure time and the mean gray value for calculating the optimal exposure time. In order to take advantage of this correlation, the camera's dark current must be known as an offset of the linear function.
  • Page 27 intelligent Exposure Exposure times The exposure times ascertained by intelligent Exposure are displayed in the dialog box's status bar. The term Live Exp. (Live Exposure Time) stands for the exposure time of the live acquisition, while Snap Exp. (Snapshot Expo- sure Time) stands for the exposure time of the snapshot.
  • Page 28 ColorView III • intelligent Exposure Note Moving the control to the left only leads to a hardly visible change in bright- ness in the live-image. This is due to the automatic gain display function which is always enabled when using intelligent Exposure.

  • Page 29: Netcam

    "Calibration". NetCam You can transfer the ColorView III live-image via the intranet or internet to other computers using the add-In NetCam. This enables you make the images available for your colleagues directly during acquisition.

  • Page 30: Installing The Web Server

    ColorView III • Installing the web server Available A web server must be installed on your computer to make images available via the internet. An appropriate program is automatically installed by Setup, if you have selected the add-In NetCam. This step will be skipped should a web server already exist on your computer.

  • Page 31: Netcam In The Internet

    NetCam in the internet Java Java Runtime Environment, Version 1.4.1_03 or higher is required to show the images on the clients. When this requirement has not been fulfilled by the client, the transfer of images cannot be carried out. NetCam in the internet When using NetCam, a direct communication takes place between the serv- er and the client.

  • Page 32: Using Netcam

    ColorView III • Using NetCam Using NetCam The use of your image-analysis software remains the same when using Net- Cam. You can use all of the functions as always. To transfer the images to other users and to be able to control the transfer, use the buttons located in NetCam button bar.
  • Page 33 The image quality decreases, whereby the transfer rate increases. Image quality and data A single image of ColorView III can have the size of up to 15 MByte. Images transfer rate of this size take a long time to transfer to a client even with a very fast net- work connection;...

  • Page 34: Usage In Black & White Mode

    ColorView III • Usage in Black & White mode Usage in Black & White mode Some changes result when using a black & white camera or a color camera in black & white mode. This chapter describes the control elements in the Camera Control dialog box which are different from those in color mode.
  • Page 35 Display and usage of the acquisition with Real time FFT Enabling Real time FFT Real time FFT can be activated in the input channel. To do this, select the Image > Configure input > Display > Real time FFT dialog box. Real-time Fast Fourier Transformation (RTFFT) calculates the acquired im- age's Fourier image in real time (the absolute value of the Fourier trans-...
  • Page 36 ColorView III • Display and usage of the acquisition with Real time FFT Position Click on the Position button to move the ROI in the live-image. The RTFFT Control dialog box will be hidden and the pointer jumps into the image. The red frame shows the position of the ROI for the RTFFT.

  • Page 37: Camera Set Up

    Configuration via tabs Channels are configured via the inputting of suitable values in various tabs. The 3 tabs relevant for ColorView III will be dealt with in-depth. Logical input channels contain, for example, the information about how large an image format is, and what is to happen with the image signal before it reaches the image buffer.
  • Page 38 ColorView III • Software Camera Control Set Input dialog box with an already defined in- put channel. New Channel Click the New Channel button to create an entirely new input channel. The Select device dialog box is opened. All connected image creating devices...

  • Page 39: The Input Tab

    Resolution You can choose three different resolutions possible with ColorView III from Resolution list. The adjustable resolution in ColorView III substitutes bin- ning.
  • Page 40 ColorView III • Software Camera Control Sharpen filter Select the Activate check box of the Sharpen filter group to enhance the im- Activate age sharpness. This sharpen filtering takes place in real time during image acquisition. When applying the sharpen filter, the numerical value in the Sharpen field determines whether or not the image’s contours appear sharp-...

  • Page 41: The Display Tab

    Software Camera Control Devices ID Device ID is the physical identification of the camera for the operating system. It is in accordance with the device's serial number. Firmware Version The Firmware is the cameras software for your operation. Serial Number serial number serves as a clear identification for each camera pro- duced.
  • Page 42 ColorView III • Software Camera Control In this case, reduce the exposure time till the warning message disappears. Overflow An image is overexposed when a certain percentage of its pixels attain the maximum gray value possible. This percentage is entered into the Overflow field.
  • Page 43 Minimum, mean, and maximum gray values of the image will be shown be- neath the histogram. Percentages are in relation to the maximum obtainable gray value. The maximum obtainable gray value when using ColorView III (with its 12-bit depth) is 4095. This gray value is equivalent to 100%. A mean value of 53,1% when operating in black &...
  • Page 44 ColorView III • Software Camera Control Live overlay Select the Live overlay check box if you want to use overlays in live-images. Live overlays are absolutely necessary for partial readout, white balance, or Real time FFT. An image’s overlay contains information in the form of text, markers, or other graphical elements.

  • Page 45: The Format Tab

    The entries in this list correspond to predetermined settings for the clipping. In addition to the predetermined list elements, you can also select from the settings which you defined. Binning Binning function is not enabled when using ColorView III. Use the Res- olution function located on the Input tab instead.
  • Page 46 ColorView III • Software Camera Control Clipping border (pixel) When clipping is used, the edges of the images are clipped. Hence, clipping does not have any effects on the resolution and brightness as well as the required exposure time. Left, Right, Top, Bot-...
  • Page 47 Appendix I: Microscope Settings Appendix I: Microscope Settings Your digital camera can only achieve high image quality if the microscope has been optimally set. A subsequent correction to the software can never correct deficiencies in the image resulting from faulty settings made to the camera and microscope.
  • Page 48 ColorView III • Illumination Tungsten-halogen Tungsten-halogen lamps comply with their functionality to a conventional lamps light-bulb. Electricity flowing through a metal wire heats the wire to the extent that light is produced (thermal emitter). In doing so, the wire emits a contin- uous spectrum, hence a broad spectral band is emitted.
  • Page 49 Objective, Total Magnification and Useful Magnification Adjusting the Con- Now the illuminated area is optimally set. denser Open the field diaphragm so that its edge is still completely within the visible area. Center the image of the field diaphragm using the condenser's adjust- ment screws.
  • Page 50 ColorView III • Objective, Total Magnification and Useful Magnification...
  • Page 51 Warning Please read the following carefully before attempting installation of camera. Requirements The ColorView III can be used under the operating systems Windows 2000 and Windows XP. The installation procedure is described separately for these two operating systems. Installation sequence In order to avoid problems, you’ll have to follow the steps of the procedure...
  • Page 52 ColorView III • Appendix II: Camera Installation General Warnings! • CCD image sensors are easily damaged by static discharge. Do not disassemble the camera housing. • Do not attempt to touch the internals of the camera with your bare hands.
  • Page 53 Installation Procedure - Windows 2000 Installation Procedure - Windows 2000 Installation of the FireWire board IEEE-1394 When is this necessary? This procedure is necessary only if the PC does not have a FireWire inter- face on-board hardware configuration or if it is not yet equipped with a FireWire board.
  • Page 54 ColorView III • Installation Procedure - Windows 2000 Installation of the image-analysis software Warning! The image-analysis software must be installed first before connecting the camera to the FireWire board. Requirements, PC The Color View III camera requires the image-analysis software, (3.2 ver- sion), and Microsoft Windows 2000 (or later).
  • Page 55 Installation of the image-analysis software Then select the Soft Imag- ing System manufacturer entry and the Color View III camera entry. Precalibration You will be advised to carry out a precalibration of the camera when install- ing the image-analysis software. In this dialog box you can activate the precalibration.
  • Page 56 ColorView III • Installation Procedure - Windows 2000 Note The image-analysis software can support several same or different types of FireWire cameras simultaneously. You differentiate Color View III cameras via their serial numbers when creating a new logical input channel via Image >...
  • Page 57 Installation of the camera and cables How to install the camera The diagram shows a typical installation of a light microscope. You should have all required components ready at hand. Remove the protective cap from the camera. Firmly screw the TV adaptor (0,5x or bigger") onto the camera. This should be done with the CCD-chip side of the camera facing down to minimize the chance of dust landing on its surface.
  • Page 58 ColorView III • Installation Procedure - Windows 2000 Make sure the cable plug is facing the right way before you plug it into the camera socket Plug the other end into one of the small connector sockets on the FireWire board.
  • Page 59 Troubleshooting The Windows Device Manager shows the IEEE 1394 FireWire board and the SIS View FireWire camera driver Soft- Hard Technology MV4.0 Camera. Troubleshooting What do I do if the cam- An error message appears when starting the program, even though you era cannot be found? have completely installed the camera and the image-analysis software: The image-analysis software has not been successful in creating a connec-...
  • Page 60 ColorView III • Installation Procedure - Windows 2000 If the camera is hooked up to the computer, you have to install the correct camera driver from the software’s setup CD separately from the software in- stallation. Do the following: Select the Start >...
  • Page 61 Troubleshooting Select the entry SoftHard Technology MV 4.0 from the Devices list and click on the Next button. Click on the Finish button.
  • Page 62 ColorView III • Installation Procedure - Windows 2000 Click on the Next button. Select the Search for a suitable driver for my device (recommended) option and click on the Next button.
  • Page 63 Troubleshooting Insert the image-analysis software setup CD into your computer’s CD- ROM drive. Minimize the appearing setup dialog box. Make sure that only the CD-ROM drives check box is selected and click on the Next button. Wait until Windows has found the correct camera driver. The driv- er's data file is mv40dcam.inf.
  • Page 64 ColorView III • Installation Procedure - Windows 2000 Digital Signature Not Found dialog box appears on your screen. Click Yes. Wait until the camera driver has been installed. Click on the Finish button. Digital Signature Not Found MS Windows dialog box(es) ap- pear on your screen.
  • Page 65 Hard Technology MV4.0 Camera. Install the image-analysis software. During the installation check the Firewire check box to in the Input Device (Digitizer) Selection dialog box. Select the ColorView III (Firewire) check box in the following Cam- era Selection dialog box.
  • Page 66 ColorView III • Installation Procedure - Windows XP Installation Procedure - Windows XP Installation of the FireWire board IEEE-1394 When is this necessary? This procedure is necessary only if the PC does not have a FireWire inter- face on-board hardware configuration or if it is not yet equipped with a FireWire board.
  • Page 67 Installation of the image-analysis software Installation of the image-analysis software Warning Install the image-analysis software first before connecting the camera to the FireWire interface. Requirements, PC The Color View III camera requires the 823 image-analysis software and Mi- crosoft Windows XP (or higher). The image-analysis software also supports multithreading on multiprocessors, thus making full use of the power of the latest multi-CPU PC’s.
  • Page 68 ColorView III • Installation Procedure - Windows XP Then select the Soft Imag- ing System manufacturer entry and the Color View III camera entry. Note The image-analysis software can support several same or different types of FireWire cameras simultaneously. You differentiate Color View III cameras...
  • Page 69 Installation of the image-analysis software How to install the camera The diagram shows a typical installation of a light microscope. You should have all required components ready at hand. Remove the protective cap from the camera. Firmly screw the TV adaptor (1/1,8" or bigger) onto the camera. This should be done with the CCD-chip side of the camera facing down to minimize the chance of dust landing on its surface.
  • Page 70 ColorView III • Installation Procedure - Windows XP Make sure the cable plug is facing the right way before you plug it into the camera socket Plug the other end into one of the small connector sockets on the FireWire board.
  • Page 71 Installation of the camera driver Device Manager dialog box shows the Generic 1394 Desktop Camera entry in the Imaging devices section. The exclamation mark indicates a device conflict. Select the Generic 1394 Desktop Camera entry and click on the date driver button in the device manager button bar.
  • Page 72 ColorView III • Installation Procedure - Windows XP Model list contains the SoftHard Technology MV4.0 Camera entry. If this entry is missing, click on the Cancel button. Repeat the instal- lation of the image-analysis software including FireWire input de- vice and Color View III camera selection.
  • Page 73 Installation of the camera driver After having finished the SIS View FireWire camera driver installa- tion the following dialog box will be opened. Click on the Finish button to end the hardware update wizard. In the Device Manager dialog box there is still the same Generic 1394 Desktop Camera entry but the exclamation mark indicating...
  • Page 74 ColorView III • When encountering problems with the camera... When encountering problems with the camera... Should you have questions or should problems arise which you cannot solve with the help of the documentation provided, please feel free to contact our customer service - preferably via e-mail.
  • Page 75 When encountering problems with the camera... ber of your analySIS-Version as well as the operating system being used. • The software data mentioned should be at hand when contacting our customer service personnel. Please write an e-mail clearly describing the problem (including snap- shots and example images), as well as the software data from the Info dialog box to our customer service address: support@soft-imaging.de...
  • Page 76 ColorView III • When encountering problems with the camera...
  • Page 77 Soft Imaging System Model Designation Color View III Name and Address of manufacturer or representative Manufacturer Soft Imaging System GmbH Johann-Krane-Weg 39 D-48147 Münster Name and Address of manufacturer or representative The product complies with the requirements of the following European directives:...
  • Page 79 Color Settings 17 intX 23 Gamma Correction 17 Calibration 24 Saturation 18 Exposure time 25 ColorView III Black & white mode 32 Exposure time correction 25 ColorView III Information 38 Online shading correction 14 ColorView III Specifications 5 Resolution 27...
  • Page 80 Index Set Input 35 Shading Correction Activate 13 Microscope 45 Sharpen filter 18 Controlling illumination intensity 7 Sharpen filter Activate 38 Empty Magnification 47 Sharpness Monitor 21 Illumination 45 Snapshot Numerical Aperture 47 Command 23 Objective 47 intX 25 Total Magnification 47 Special 8 Useful Magnification 47 System Info 73...

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