background image

Image Acquisition 

OK

 

fã~ÖÉ=^Åèìáëáíáçå=

OKN

 

dÉåÉê~ä=

The AxioCam MR is a professional, high-resolution digital camera. It has been 
specially optimized for routine and research applications in the area of light 
microscopy. This is shown among other by the fast live image, which is 
displayed on a PC monitor to allow the simple focusing and setting of the 
sample. 

This extremely compact camera is connected using a single cable for the 
power supply, control information and image data, making it very simple to 
operate. 

There are two versions available: 

AxioCam MRc

 (color camera) and 

AxioCam 

MRm

 (b/w camera). 

The color camera is suitable for all situations where stained or naturally 
colored samples need to be acquired with very high levels of quality. 

The black/white version of the camera has been optimized in particular for 
acquisition when light intensities are low. In these cases it is important for the 
widest possible spectral response and the highest possible sensitivity to be 
achieved. Due to the elimination of the color filter mask, there is no need for 
the IR filter usually required with color cameras. 

The camera’s very low level of background noise (supported by active Peltier 
cooling of the sensor), and possible exposure times ranging from 1 ms up to 
several sec, make it suitable for an extremely wide range of applications in the 
field of microscopy. 

 

32 

M 60-3-0014 e / printed 12.2008 

Summary of Contents for Axiocam MR

Page 1: ...jo f H o J NOKOMMU Number of this manual M 60 3 0014 e Printed 12 2008...

Page 2: ...the implementation of which in any individual case may not be appropriate in the form described here In cases of doubt we recommend the User to consult Carl Zeiss This manual is protected by copyrigh...

Page 3: ...responsible for the validation of the Software for the end user s dedicated intend of use considering all requirements of law and standards e g 21 CFR part 11 FDA MDD etc If necessary the end user ha...

Page 4: ...s product We have implemented a take back and recycling process that ensures that proper recycling is carried out in accordance with the aforementioned EU directives Please contact your Carl Zeiss sal...

Page 5: ...a on a notebook using the FireWire PCcard CardBus interface card 12 Installing the PCcard CardBus interface card on the notebook 12 Connecting the camera to the notebook 14 Operating the camera on a n...

Page 6: ...lor saturation 47 Histogram 47 2 4 Frame Property Page 49 Camera mode 49 Resolution 50 Binning 52 Size of the resulting files 52 Frame 53 2 5 General Property Page 54 Digital gain 55 Image orientation...

Page 7: ...ty 74 Configurable toolbars for operating the camera 74 3 Trouble Shooting 75 3 1 Software 75 3 2 Image Quality 76 4 Technical Data 77 4 1 AxioCam MRc color version 77 4 2 AxioCam MRm monochrome versi...

Page 8: ...puter is switched on Use only high quality and undamaged FireWire cables If you cannot avoid hot plugging please take the following information into account Sequence for cable insertion When you conne...

Page 9: ...s used for both the color camera and the black white camera A distinction is only made where this is necessary for technical reasons NKN p o Please read this chapter carefully and observe the regulati...

Page 10: ...he safety reliability and performance of the system if the following safety regulations are closely observed The electrical installations of the room where the system is to be set up must conform to I...

Page 11: ...t mechanical impact External damage may affect the operation of inner components Keep chemicals and fluids away from the camera To avoid the risk of fire do not use near inflammable liquids or gases M...

Page 12: ...liability for consequential damage resulting from insufficient data protection NKO p o The appropriate system requirements relating to hard and software equipment can be found in the file Installation...

Page 13: ...with FireWire PCcard CardBus Interface order number 000000 0452 037 PC with FireWire interface onboard 6 pin to 6 pin digital FireWire cable included in AxioCam MR package additional 6 pin to 6 pin di...

Page 14: ...card connection of the camera to the PC s integrated onboard FireWire interface In both cases the AxioCam MR is connected to the PC using the FireWire cable 6 pin to 6 pin supplied with the camera Po...

Page 15: ...face card order number 000000 0452 036 also has integrated USB connections FireWire PCI bus interface card To ensure that power is supplied to the AxioCam MR no other devices should be connected to th...

Page 16: ...tation from your PC s manufacturer m Lay the data cable carefully between the camera and the PC Make sure that the cable is a safe distance from hot light sources on the microscope to prevent it being...

Page 17: ...m c t m Lay the data cable carefully between the camera and the PC Make sure that the cable is a safe distance from hot light sources on the microscope to prevent it being damaged by heat To connect t...

Page 18: ...l Depending on your notebook s specifications you can choose between two forms of connection connection of the camera to the FireWire PCcard CardBus interface card connection of the camera to the note...

Page 19: ...and notebook documentation Only the basic principles of interface card installation are described in this manual FireWire PCcard CardBus interface card Switch off your notebook and all connected peri...

Page 20: ...devices A FireWire hub should therefore be used to supply power to operate the AxioCam MR on a notebook The following components are required FireWire hub with power supply order number 000000 0452 37...

Page 21: ...ta cable carefully between the camera and the notebook Make sure that the cable is a safe distance from hot light sources on the microscope to prevent it being damaged by heat To ensure the efficient...

Page 22: ...e camera is also switched off When the power supply of the FireWire hub is connected the red LED of the FireWire hub lights up The green LED of the FireWire hub lights up as soon as a FireWire device...

Page 23: ...the surface of the infrared barrier filter or CCD sensor with your fingers If you remove the camera from the microscope make sure you immediately cover the C mount opening with the dust cap provided...

Page 24: ...on of your computer s FireWire interface fits the needs of all connected devices Check the following connections The AxioCam MR is mounted onto the microscope and is receiving light The AxioCam MR is...

Page 25: ...talled are contained in the enclosed installation program and are standard Microsoft products or updates For some of the Microsoft update components the installation instructions are often only availa...

Page 26: ...perating system In addition to installing the AxioCam MR driver to carry out full installation of the camera you also need to check and if necessary update the camera s firmware These tasks are perfor...

Page 27: ...Installation Select the option Install from a list or specific location Advanced Click on Next Select the option Search removable media floppy DVD ROM Click Next AxioCam MR Installation Reference 21...

Page 28: ...is dialog window is displayed Click on Continue Anyway The last dialog window of the hardware wizard is displayed Click Finish to close the hardware wizard To complete the installation follow the step...

Page 29: ...during the installation procedure If you have fitted a FireWire PCI bus or a PCcard CardBus interface card into your computer you first need to install these with the help of the documentation enclose...

Page 30: ...lick OK Follow the instructions of the setup program until the window is displayed where you can customize your setup In this window you can also choose to read the ReadMe files It is recommended that...

Page 31: ...camera s firmware and if necessary starts updating the firmware This procedure may take a few minutes While the firmware is being updated under no circumstances must the power supply or the data conne...

Page 32: ...art the systems Device Manager to check the installation Click Start Control Panel Double click the System icon The System Properties dialog will be displayed Select the property page Hardware and her...

Page 33: ...ceed as follows Please make sure that during all the steps described below the DVD ROM containing the AxioCam MR driver remains inserted in the DVD ROM drive of your computer Start the systems Device...

Page 34: ...gram see section Installing the camera driver using the setup program After the camera driver has been installed and depending on the operating system you are using your computer has been restarted th...

Page 35: ...on of the FireWire cable this means that the AxioCam MR s firmware is not functioning properly This error can occur for example if the data transmission or power supply to the camera has been cut off...

Page 36: ...e the camera s electronics Update the firmware of the AxioCam MR by running the installation program Here follow the description in the section Installing the camera driver using the setup program If...

Page 37: ...can be mounted onto microscopes with standard TV adapters with C mount connections Carl Zeiss supplies the camera complete with a pre mounted infrared barrier filter which offers the optical advantage...

Page 38: ...r camera is suitable for all situations where stained or naturally colored samples need to be acquired with very high levels of quality The black white version of the camera has been optimized in part...

Page 39: ...ia the toolbar Open the corresponding menu by clicking on The text below describes how to achieve your first image in AxioVision with just a few clicks of the mouse The Standard workflow is the easies...

Page 40: ...the active camera Show Properties adapts the image display using a characteristic curve and shows the parameters of the image Scale bar inserts a scale bar Annotations inserts a caption and scale bar...

Page 41: ...t to acquire In the footer you can select a suitable scaling for the objective you are using from the List of available scalings Clicking on this icon overexposed too bright areas will be displayed in...

Page 42: ...see the settings for the display of the image like Brightness Contrast and Gamma Settings made here are passed on the acquired image Note Only the display is adapted the camera data remain unchanged 3...

Page 43: ...measurement before the acquisition of each image Auto Live adjusts the exposure time continuously in the live image If you are using a color camera you need to perform a white balance for the image If...

Page 44: ...to increase or decrease the color intensity of the acquired images Enter further settings for the selected camera on the Adjust Frame and General property pages Click on the camera icon to acquire an...

Page 45: ...f around 0 45 To find the optimum setting for contrast and brightness click on Min Max To undo all your changes click on Linear You can use this icon to insert a scale bar into your image The appropri...

Page 46: ...dow Draw Annotation s a field for Settings for selected items as well as for Font are available If Display tag name is activated you can use the icon in the drop down list box Tag The dialog window Se...

Page 47: ...s Editor in the Tool menu and load it again automatically in the future This allows you for example to acquire particular samples under the same conditions every time To allow correct scalings to be s...

Page 48: ...Image Acquisition OKP m m This property page contains a summary of the most important camera settings which are constantly used during operation 42 M 60 3 0014 e printed 12 2008...

Page 49: ...bsequent images It can be changed at any time by moving the slider or by entering a new exposure time manually This measurement function uses all the image information from the camera sensor for the e...

Page 50: ...cquisition Setting a correction factor of 120 extends the effective exposure time to 60 ms which ensures that the darker area of the sample is exposed more brightly The brightest area of the image whi...

Page 51: ...er For this you need to use the pointer to click in the live image on an area of the microscope s specimen which is white neutral and illuminated as evenly as possible The scene must not be overexpose...

Page 52: ...e completely filled this automatic method can lead to color distortion In this case use the 3200 K standard setting or the manual color adjustment function The color setting is only available for the...

Page 53: ...s Editor Using the Saturation slider it is possible to increase or decrease the color intensity of the acquired images Setting the slider at a value of 1 achieves the most natural color reproduction r...

Page 54: ...le between a linear scaling and a logarithmic display of the signals represented in the histogram The logarithmic display makes it possible to view small amplitudes and high peaks at the same time in...

Page 55: ...or the image acquisition and is splitted in the fields Camera Mode and Frame RGB and B W Two types of AxioCam MR are produced one with a CCD sensor with a color mask on the chip AxioCam MRc and the ot...

Page 56: ...ected between Binning and Standard The camera has a 2 3 CCD sensor with dimensions of 8 8 mm x 6 6 mm This corresponds to an image diagonal of approx 11 mm To optimize the size of the camera s field o...

Page 57: ...With the AxioCam MRm the omission of the color filter mask on the CCD sensor and the associated generation of monochrome images offers the following advantages The acquisition speed in scanning modes...

Page 58: ...ing out of 1400 x1000 pixels 700 x 500 pixels remain p The size of the resulting files depends on the choice of resolution and gray value scaling The following table gives an overview Image size 8 bit...

Page 59: ...side it and keeping the button pressed as you change its position Center By clicking on Center you can automatically center the selected frame This can be useful as interesting parts of the sample are...

Page 60: ...Image Acquisition OKR d m m On this property page you enter the basic settings for the camera 54 M 60 3 0014 e printed 12 2008...

Page 61: ...data by a corresponding factor The maximum numerical pixel value generated is always limited to the maximum value of the analog digital converter you are using 12 bits per pixel per color channel in t...

Page 62: ...or with the cap provided Calibration takes approx 20 seconds At the end of this period it will continue to be available even if the software is restarted Under certain circumstances it may be necessar...

Page 63: ...sical effects For all AxioCam models it is possible to acquire a shading reference image and apply this automatically each time an image is acquired On the camera property page General you will find t...

Page 64: ...t image of a specimen with quality that is as high as possible Check the quality of the K hler setting for each objective with which you want to generate automatic shading correction Now move the samp...

Page 65: ...l managed separately In the Multidimensional Acquisition function a function for fluorescence channel specific shading correction is offered under Extended parameters on the C Channel property page Ac...

Page 66: ...out shading correction via an image processing function On the Processing menu Adjust Shading Correction you will find a function that allows you to perform targeted subsequent processing This functi...

Page 67: ...tent microscopic contrast technique and structure sizes Any form of image processing also potentially increases the noise This means that this technique is not recommended for acquisition situations w...

Page 68: ...e too large halo effects may occur at the edges Radius and Strength interact A smaller radius allows a greater strength and vice versa At a resolution of 1388 x 1040 pixels value 2 is an appropriate s...

Page 69: ...omalies at both ends of the histogram The following parameters are only available in the image processing function Unsharp Masking in the AxioVision menu Processing Sharpening as additional parameters...

Page 70: ...a tag in the AxioVision image format The image tags documented in the image properties and can be inserted as annotations in the image The 9 parameters of the implemented method Unsharp Masking are in...

Page 71: ...of the device you have connected Note Simultaneous control of the external Uniblitz shutter by AxioVision via a serial interface and by the shutter control of the camera is resulting in the following...

Page 72: ...on of the AxioCam With color cameras an infrared barrier filter blocks light above approx 710 nm This filter has been permanently installed into the color cameras as it is essential in order to acquir...

Page 73: ...reset the following settings of the active camera If you click on the Reset button the following settings of the active camera are reset Camera parameters for all cameras as available Exposure time 20...

Page 74: ...s White balance No changes supplied in the driver Overexposure Off Zoom Fit into window Ruler No changes Cross Bar No changes Live Staus bar No changes Close after Snap No changes p There are three sp...

Page 75: ...as automatic amplification is active However this will not influence the quality of the final image k s Below you will find a detailed description of how best to set up AxioVision to achieve optimum...

Page 76: ...the Properties dialog window set the gamma characteristic curve in the histogram image on the Display property page Notes This also influences the reproduction of the color saturation For fluorescence...

Page 77: ...is able to generate 3 x 12 bits per pixel So that intelligent use can be made of this feature the display s characteristic curve can be altered in AxioVision To do this right click in the image acquir...

Page 78: ...n the image Linear displays on the screen the total possible value range Log displays the histogram in a logarithmic scaling allowing you to effectively evaluate histograms of images with high dynamic...

Page 79: ...to carry out a balance manually e g fluorescence If the image background in the acquired image is to be displayed with a neutral tint gray a manual white balance is required Click on the White Balanc...

Page 80: ...rsions of AxioCam MR have been designed to determine linear quantitative measurement data as such data is frequently used for tasks in the field of image analysis Consequently internal gamma compensat...

Page 81: ...Vista make sure that the camera drivers have been installed with administrator rights No camera image on your screen Check the light setting of the microscope Is the green control light on the camera...

Page 82: ...ge will show periodic interference Repeat the shot and take care to ensure the conditions remain calm An example of a shaky shot Compare An error free image Fluctuations in illumination If the light s...

Page 83: ...for time lapse images in AxioVision module Fast Acquisition High Speed Color mode H x V 1388 x 1040 692 x 520 460 x 344 344 x 260 276 x 208 Binning 1 x 1 RGB b w 2 x 2 b w 3 x 3 RGB 4 x 4 b w 5 x 5 RG...

Page 84: ...nly for Notebook operation required Ambient condition operation 5 35 Celsius max 80 relative humidity no condensation free air circulation required Order number 426508 9901 000 Above frame rates are s...

Page 85: ...ow 1 middle 2 fast 3 Max frame rate 13 images s 23 images s 32 images s Resolution and frame rates for time lapse images in AxioVision module Fast Acquisition H x V 1388 x 1040 692 x 520 460 x 344 344...

Page 86: ...PC external power supply only for Notebook operation required Ambient condition operation 5 35 Celsius max 80 relative humidity no condensation free air circulation required Order number 426509 9901...

Page 87: ...barrier filter is not recommended as color is only defined for visual spectral range The AxioCam MRm black white version is used without infrared barrier filter If necessary an additional infrared ba...

Page 88: ...tebook 14 15 connecting to the PC 10 11 contents of delivery 6 contrast change 72 control signal 65 a delivery 6 device manager 26 27 digital gain 55 display characteristic curve 69 driver software 19...

Page 89: ...camera 5 optical system 30 optimum color reproduction 69 overexposure 48 m PCcard interface on the notebook 12 PCI bus interface card 8 practical notes on operation 67 o resetting the firmware 29 res...

Reviews: