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MU Camera Series User’s Manual (Windows)

Summary of Contents for MU USB2.0

Page 1: ...1 MU Camera Series User s Manual Windows ...

Page 2: ... Opening a Saved Still Image 31 Recording Saving a Video 32 Left Hand Navigation Bar Camera Bar 38 Understanding the Software Options 38 Camera List 39 Capture Resolution 39 Exposure Gain 40 White Balance 41 Color Adjustment 42 Power Frequency Anti Flicker 43 Frame Rate 43 Color Grey 44 Flip 44 Sampling 44 Bit Depth 45 ROI Region of Interest 45 Histogram 45 Dark Field Correction 46 Cooling 46 Misc...

Page 3: ...gh Dynamic Range 72 Extended Depth of Focus EDF 74 Deinterlace 80 Color Composite 81 Segmentation Count 84 Denoise 98 Sharpen 100 Color Toning 102 Filter 105 Image Stacking 113 Line Profile 114 Line Profile 115 Surface Plot 117 Pseudo Color 120 Range 122 Binary 123 Layer Menu Functions 124 Layer Menu 124 Measurement Menu Functions 125 Measurement Menu 125 Options Menu Functions 126 Options Menu 12...

Page 4: ...4 MU Series Windows User s Manual Auto Correction Menu 143 Window Menu Functions 144 Window Menu 144 Troubleshooting 145 Common Issues 145 ...

Page 5: ...cking list includes your password to access this manual at any time If you have additional questions or need assistance please do not hesitate to email us at info amscope com Or give us a call during business hours 6AM 5PM Pacific Standard Time GMT 8 at 888 950 2000 Copyright 2017 United Scope Inc DBA AmScope All rights reserved Copyright Notice This document which is in draft form and subject to ...

Page 6: ... Do not place the microscope camera in direct sunlight or in high heat Keap it indoors in a dry and clean place with temperateures between 32 100 degrees F 0 40 degrees C and in maximum relative humidity of 85 3 Avoid touching the lenses on the cmaera body and the reduction lenses so that oil and dirt from your fingerprints do not obstruct your view Additional details regarding maintenance and saf...

Page 7: ...7 MU Series Windows User s Manual Parts MU USB2 0 Camera Adapter Sleeves Reduction Lens SKU RU050 Camera Body USB Cable ...

Page 8: ...8 MU Series Windows User s Manual Parts MU USB3 0 Camera Adapter Sleeves Reduction Lens SKU RU050 Camera Body USB Port 3 0 is Blue 2 0 is White USB Cable ...

Page 9: ...f Parts Adapters Spacers Metal cylindrical sleeves that adapt a larger size ocular tube down to 23 2mm for the camera to fit Camera Body Square metallic housing that holds the camera sensor and circuit board as well as has a port to con nect a USB cable ...

Page 10: ...a 23 2mm port size common on AmScope microscope models Software CD CD that includes a copy of the software and driver for the camera which allows the Windows PC to both inter face with the camera and allows the user to interact with the camera via the on screen controls USB Port A standardized port universal serial bus that accepts a USB cable allowing a connection between the computer s USB port ...

Page 11: ...loading the software and installing it please see the following sections 4 Install both the driver and the software by following the on screen instructions For detailed instructions on installing the software and driver please see the following sections depending on if installing from the CD or from a downloaded file from our website pages 10 12 5 Once the software and driver are installed connect...

Page 12: ...ing the software CD in your computer s CD tray and insert the CD 2 Windows should either bring up the AutoPlay function When asked select the first option Run autorun exe in order to access the AmScope ToupView installation menu 3 Next click Install Application to start the Installation Wizard ...

Page 13: ...13 MU Series Windows User s Manual Getting Started Installing the Software CD Continued 4 Once the Installation Wizard has opened please click Next to continue ...

Page 14: ... wish to install the program to If unsure leave as default and press Install to continue Pressing Browse will allow you to navigate to the folder you wish to install the software to using the File Browser or if known you may type in the address to the Destination Folder directly When done press Install to begin the installation process ...

Page 15: ...stallation Wizard will then begin installing the program onto your computer s hard drive in the folder designated by you on the previous page Please wait until the bar has been completely filled upon which the Installation Wizard will automatically prog ress to the final Installation Wizard window ...

Page 16: ...tallation Wizard will advise whether the software and driver package was success fully installed or not and if so will allow you to immediately open the software By keeping the Run AmScope 3 7 box ticked upon hitting Finish the software will open If unticked pressing Finish will simply close the Installation Wizard ...

Page 17: ...a etc and in the ad dress bar type www amscope com software download and press Enter Note Alternatively you may input www amscope com and navigate to the bottom of the page to find a section titled Customer Support and click Camera Software Downloads to open the page 3 Once on the Camera Software Downloads page select the first drop down menu under Select Camera by clicking the arrow in the box an...

Page 18: ...on of the driver and software you d like to download 5 Once you ve selected both camera series and operating system a new section will appear just below the drop down menus listing the various versions of the software we have available Please select the most recent release listed at the top of the list and to the right under Download Link click download and do the same for the DirectShow driver or...

Page 19: ...wsers have different default locations for your Downloads folder We cannot be sure where your file goes if you have changed it so please be aware of where on your computer s hard drive you have your Downloads folder set to as that will be where the installer package is located once it finishes 7 Locate the installer package where the web browser placed it A quick way to locate it is to right click...

Page 20: ...d box with a knife or the letter with a letter opener in order to access the contents Luckily Windows 7 and higher editions have zip extraction functionality built into them Simply right click the zip file and select Extract All Note If you are using an older version of Windows such as XP you may have to download and install Win RAR which is a freely available software The below image is shown usi...

Page 21: ... the installer file which has a file extension ending of exe and a type of Application Double click this in order to run the Installation Wizard 12 When the Installation Wizard window opens up please click Next to proceed Installing the Software Download Continued ...

Page 22: ...the Installation Wizard lists the software license terms and conditions of use Please read through them and click I Agree when complete to proceed If you do not agree with the license terms the software cannot be installed and used Installing the Software Download Continued ...

Page 23: ... You can leave this at the default location if unsure or you do not have a preference or press Browse to select a folder to install the program to Alternatively you can type in the folder s address in the Destination Folder bar When ready click Install to proceed with installing the software Installing the Software Download Continued ...

Page 24: ...before the camera will function so untick the Run AmScope box and click Finish 16 Navigate back to the folder to which the driver download is located We offer two drivers DirectShow and Twain however DirectShow works with most applications for most users The installation procedure is the same for both Double click your desired driver installer to start the Installation Wizard Installing the Softwa...

Page 25: ...25 MU Series Windows User s Manual Getting Started 17 When the Installation Wizard window opens up please click Next to proceed Installing the Software Download Continued ...

Page 26: ... the Installation Wizard lists the software license terms and conditions of use Please read through them and click I Agree when complete to proceed If you do not agree with the license terms the driver cannot be installed and used Installing the Software Download Continued ...

Page 27: ...eave this at the default location if unsure or you do not have a preference or press Browse to select a folder to install the program to Alternatively you can type in the folder s address in the Destination Folder bar When ready click Install to proceed with installing the DirectShow or Twain driver Installing the Software Download Continued ...

Page 28: ... User s Manual Getting Started 20 The Installation Wizard will proceed to install the DirectShow or Twain driver When it has completed it will automatically move to the final page Installing the Software Download Continued ...

Page 29: ...ll change to a Finish button 22 You are now ready to open the software and use the camera Please plug in the camera and navigate to your desktop You will now see either a yellow A or a yellow T AmScope ToupView depending on what version of the software you chose to install Double click either to open the software Installing the Software Download Continued ...

Page 30: ... to activate the live view from the camera 3 What the camera is currently seeing will appear in the gray area to the right of the navigation bar While view ing the camera s feed adjust the focusing knobs on the microscope until the feed is in clear view of your desired sample 4 From here you can adjust the software settings as desired to fine tune the image manipulation options cap ture a photo or...

Page 31: ... photo taken in this case 0001 meaning the first photo of this session 3 To save the photo click on File at the top navigation bar of the software and Save or Save As Save will immediately save it in the desired directory in the default format while Save As will allow you to select not only a directory and a name but also the file type such as jpeg png etc Select either method name your photo and ...

Page 32: ...ecord button with the photo of the Play button the triangle pointing to the right Be sure to set the Snap resolution to the resolution desired of the video recording prior to pressing Record 2 The Video File window will pop up asking you to name your video file and select a location to save the re cording to Select your desired location and type in the desired name for your video then press Next ...

Page 33: ...l Using the Software Recording Saving a Video 3 The Video Format and Encoder menu will appear next asking which file format you would like to save and encode your video in Most users will use wmv or avi If unsure use wmv and press Next ...

Page 34: ...h recording and playback Quality is a percentage in this case and can be set anywhere between 0 and 100 to improve file size ease of playback transmittal It is set to 100 by default however can be adjusted as needed Key Frames Spacing refers to the time between frames in which the encoder will re evaluate the video image and record a full frame rather than recording just the changes Unlike traditi...

Page 35: ... Display Information menu will appear next allowing you to set the ID3 tags for your video These are file properties that will show up in certain playback softwares and is useful for cataloging results While not neces sary you may fill in this section When completed please press Next to continue ...

Page 36: ...record until you hit the Record button again to stop Press Finish when ready to begin recording your video Note At any time from when the Video File window step 2 is open you can press Finish instead of Next to immediately begin recording and leave all other settings as default 7 When you have finished recording you can press the Record button again to stop the video or simply wait for the time th...

Page 37: ...cedure is necessary 9 If you wish to load a video for playback you can navigate to the file folder containing the video and play it using your desired media playback software We recommend Video Lan Controller VLC which is a free to use software available on the internet and has a wide compatibility with different codecs and encoding methods Note We at AmScope are not affiliated with VLC in any way...

Page 38: ...ts that the software is capable of Understanding these software options is essential to successful operation of the software and in getting the desired results Every camera sensor is a little different even from the same assembly line and every environment and sample has differences thus the options here are designed to allow you the flexibility to compensate for those factors ...

Page 39: ... section contains the resolution adjustments available for the camera Live resolution refers to the resolution that the camera s live view is fed in Snap refers to the resolution that both still images and recorded videos are captured at Note The lower the resolution selected the faster the camera can respond as there is less data being pro cessed per frame This results in a faster frames per seco...

Page 40: ...era itself will automatically adjust these set tings to compensate for different amounts of light coming from the microscope s light source The drawback of the Auto Exposure feature is that it can cost a few frames per second as the camera is constantly adjusting the exposure target and time requiring additional processing time Turning this off and manually setting the sliders is recommended if yo...

Page 41: ...ble red box will appear in the viewing area If your sample has an area that is supposed to be white blank space between the sample s elements or a sheet of thin white paper if calibrat ing without a sample drag and resize the box so that everything inside the box is supposed to be white Press the White Balance button again and your sample will be adjusted properly for correct white balance The sli...

Page 42: ...ile a lower value will be toned down or grayed out The Brightness adjustment slider defines how intense the white colors in your image are A higher value will appear more brightly lit or washed out if too bright while a lower value will dim your image s white col ors down for a darker overall image The Contrast slider adjusts how strong the difference is between light and dark pixels that neighbor...

Page 43: ... or flickering when viewing your sample the Anti Flicker system may help resolve the issue Turn Auto Exposure off and select the power frequency of nearby devices to the camera such as the microscope computer monitor etc Frame Rate This section covers manual adjustment of the camera s frame rate FPS By default it is set to the max speed possible as users are looking for the closest to live experie...

Page 44: ... flip the image from left to right while vertical will flip the image from top to bottom The Sampling section contains two options Bin and Skip Bin option refers to the method of averaging pixels in blocks of neighboring same color pixels to resize the video to a lower resolution It provides a small speed increase while maintaining image integrity Skip also Decimation skips a pre determined amount...

Page 45: ...ly a visual aid for the user This section is a graph that illustrates how pixels in an image are distributed by graphing the number of pixels at each color intensity level including shadows low values mid tones middle of the range and highlights top of the range This is mainly used to ensure that the image captured has enough detail to use other correc tions effectively The drop down menu by defau...

Page 46: ...lows one to correct the image digitally for a superior final result First cover the objective lens of your microscope to ensure the field is totally black You may also simply close the shutter on your microscope s trinocular port if it has one Next hit the Capture button This will capture a black image enabling the dark field correction function Simply hit Enable and focus on your darkfield sample...

Page 47: ... which can be later recalled to avoid having to set them each time The Save button allows you to save a series of settings which can then be recalled using the Load button Clicking Save allows you to name the settings and adds it to the drop down menu Select it from the drop down menu and hit Load to import them Overwrite will save your current settings onto an existing saved parameter group Manag...

Page 48: ...ful when you have calibrated your software to capture measure ments in real distance while looking at a sample through your MU series camera If you have not yet per formed the calibration procedures using a micrometer slide or other unit of known measurement these func tions will not actually change anything From left to right the options are Measurement Allows you to quickly swap between measurem...

Page 49: ...ce between points Parallel Creates two lines locking the angle of the second to the angle of the first and providing measure ment information of length angle start end and distance between lines Two Parallel Creates two pairs of parallel lines with a midpoint line and provides above measurements Vertical Creates a line and a second line perpendicular to it and provides above measurements Rectangle...

Page 50: ...allows users to take images taken at different points along the X and Y axes and put them together into a single image It is particularly useful when the field of view is not large enough to capture the entire region of interest in a single photo allowing the images to be stitched together in a linear or grid format Extended Depth of Focus EDF The EDF tool allows users to take a sequential series ...

Page 51: ...y used procedures using the menus is generally only as a last resort if a feature you need is not available via a tool or shortcut The following functions are available in the File drop down menu From top to bottom Open Image Selecting Open Image will bring up the file navigator allowing you to select a previously saved photograph to open in a new tab in the viewing area Control O is the keyboard ...

Page 52: ...ion Paste as New File If an image file is copied onto the clipboard in Windows this function will allow the user to paste that image into a new image tab Twain Select Device AmScope ToupView software supports other Twain compatible image capture devices Unfortunately we at AmScope do not support other devices on our software nor do we support third party softwares for our camera devices This menu ...

Page 53: ...that image or selection onto the currently active image Control V is the keyboard shortcut for this function Paste Shortcut If an image file is copied onto the clipboard in Windows this function will allow the user to paste that image or selection onto the currently active image Delete The Delete function allows a user to delete the current selection from the image The Delete key is the shortcut f...

Page 54: ...e Undo Redo Lay ers and Measurements One can change between these tabs at the bottom of the left hand navigation bar as well Grids This function allows the user to create custom sized grids superimposed over the currently active im age It folds out into a new menu allowing the software to draw the grid automatically with Auto the user to draw their own with Manual or the Settings window for more d...

Page 55: ...e to the point where the image is larger than the display area or using a high resolution setting to view from the camera the Track or Hand tool is used to slide the image to scan different areas It is only usable when zoomed in If the image is entirely fitted to the viewing area it will not move the image ...

Page 56: ... size etc This allows you to more easily find the files you are looking for Icons The Icons function allows the user to change the properties of the displayed icons for the folders and files in the Browse tab to either be large or small icons Refresh Refresh is a command that tells the Browse tab to recheck the folder to see if any changes have been made and display the latest version of that fold...

Page 57: ...overlays and circles or crosses or a combination for markers Video Watermark The Video Watermark function brings up the Watermark menu allowing the user to select an image to place on their video with opacity controls to allow it to be seen in front of the video to protect against unauthorized reproduction or redistribution of the video if captured video images are propri etary intellectual proper...

Page 58: ...ime lapse menu which allows you to desig nate the software to capture a still image at given intervals of time up to a given length of time Start Record The Start Record command is much like the Record button which opens the Record Video menus and allows you to begin or stop recording depending on whether you are currently recording a video or not Start Broadcast The Start Broadcast function opens...

Page 59: ...ge angularly in preset degrees or arbitrarily with an input value Crop The Crop tool is used to remove excess sections from the image outside of the region of interest Shift C is the keyboard shortcut for the Crop tool Scale The Scale function is used with a captured image to enlarge or reduce the digital resolution of the im age while resampling the image This does not add more detail optical res...

Page 60: ... images at varying degrees of with a larger range between how dark and how bright an image can be in terms of contrast creating a more deeply contrasted image Extended Depth of Focus EDF The EDF tool allows users to take a sequential series of photos from different focal points and have the software digitally mesh them together creating a more deeply focused image This is useful when you need high...

Page 61: ...to calibrate the image based on the color representation of the monitor the image is being viewed with as well as calibrating manipulation of the histogram for optimal results Color Toning will be covered in depth in a later section Filter The Filter function contains a number of tools used to enhance the image based on a number of dif ferent scenarios such as using a high pass filter to enhance h...

Page 62: ...rease contrast specifically in low light situations The Range function will be covered in a later section Binary The Binary function sets a limit to the intensity of the grey pixel color to where if the intensity is higher than the threshold it is turned to white This function is a key step in many other processes for ideal results and will be covered in more detail in its own section ...

Page 63: ...on New The New function creates a new layer in the current active image Remove The Remove command eliminates the currently active layer Current The Current command sets the selected layer as the active layer Show Hide The Show Hide command will either display or not display the currently active layer as a toggle Rename The Rename command allows you to change the name of the layer for organizing da...

Page 64: ...ct tool allows the user to select a specific drawn or measured element in an image for viewing or manipulating with other tools Scale Bar The Scale Bar function allows the user to designate a scale bar to be placed on an image allow ing quick reference of size when viewing a measured sample Z Order The Z Order function allows a user to move a drawn measurement up or down in the Z dimen sion which ...

Page 65: ...ement tools Magnification The Magnification function allows you to edit magnification options inputted during the Calibration process changing the list order or importing previously exported settings Calibrate The Calibrate function brings up the Calibrate menu which allows a user to create various cali brations for the software to translate pixels into real distance measurements at a given magnif...

Page 66: ... closes all open tabs simultaneously preventing the user from having to close them individually Reset Window Layout The Reset Window Layout function will return the viewing area to it s default set tings upon a restart of the AmScope ToupView software Windows The Windows function opens a menu allowing you to adjust or select an active tab as the main window as well as saving a configuration of win...

Page 67: ...tains the software s manual as provided by the developer as well as the About option Help Contents This menu options brings up this manual as a pdf file within the software for review About The About function displays the current software version being used and developer information ...

Page 68: ... or opened with the keyboard shortcut Shift T 2 The new window that opens is the Stitch menu which allows the user to capture an image then move to the next area they d like to capture up to as many photos as needed to create the grid or line to cover the area needed The Snap button will snap a shot of the area currently in view and display it You may use this in conjunction with the preview in th...

Page 69: ...d simple The Projection Type is a setting that will adjust the stitched image pattern to appear as if taken with a par ticular type of a lens by projecting the image over a specified image map Options such as cylindrical spheri cal fisheye stereographic plane mercator or transverse mercator can be selected here while cylindrical is default Seam Finder The Seam Finder option allows you to set what ...

Page 70: ...s this also requires greater precision when taking overlapping images 65 is the default and is the sweet spot between precision and leeway to create an image at all Panorama Confidence This slider adjusts the threshold match required to determine which direction to stitch the images together at It is set to 100 by default since direction is defined in the previous menu and recom mended to leave at...

Page 71: ...oftware engage the Stitching process and put the images together 5 The software will then attempt to stitch together the images taken based on the settings provided Note that if it fails to stitch you may have to retake the photos and or lower the strictness of your settings to allow a greater margin of error to get a successful stitch ...

Page 72: ...the browse window or the image viewing area window provided the images are selected if in the browse window or are open in the image viewing area Both methods will provide the same result 1 Much like the Stitch function if you select the menu with photos captured in the viewing area you will be taken to a menu where you can add images to a list of images for the function to use Add any desired ima...

Page 73: ...MU Series Windows User s Manual Process Menu Tools High Dynamic Range 2 Once the images are added to the list press OK to have the software begin processing of the images into a single image containing HDR ...

Page 74: ...g with the tool however the user has the choice to perform the image capture however desired To use them from the browse menu simply shift left click all of the desired images to use in your stacked image right click to bring up the context menu and click the EDF tool from the list 1 Clicking the EDF tool will bring up the capture image option if no other images are currently captured in the viewi...

Page 75: ...ove all photos from the list so please use it only when needing to restart from the beginning Once finished capturing photos while adjusting focus press Next to continue Note The more images captured in smaller increments of focus the better the end image will be Also the reason we capture from tallest to shortest is because the images must be in sequence for the EDF tool to func tion correctly If...

Page 76: ...o select the level of contrast used in the final image and the rendering method for creating the final image The software itself provides a fantastic detailed description of each func tion and when to use it which can be seen below After selecting a method of rendering please press Next to continue to the following menu ...

Page 77: ...ugh the whole field including the sample Use if your exposure was dark during capture to compensate or if your exposure was too bright Background Brightness This affects brightness only in the white or dark background of your image detected based on contrast between color intensity and lack thereof for the background Adjust this if your exposure s background was too bright or too dark but your sam...

Page 78: ...d image or a misaligned image when stacking the images together As before the menu has several notes as to this menu s purpose and function shown below Setting it to None will assume that the images are perfectly align and will not perform correction processes Setting it to Shift Scale will attempt to translate directionally as well as increase decrease in size for best alignment Setting it to Shi...

Page 79: ...79 MU Series Windows User s Manual Process Menu Tools Extended Depth of Focus EDF 6 The software will process your image and output an image that is deeply focused providing a greater depth of focus ...

Page 80: ...e full image is seen While the AmScope ToupView software and cameras by default captured deinterlaced images if a user wished to use our software to deinterlace ain image sent to them this function can be performed here The major benefit of a deinterlaced image is that it is processed row by row when displaying and will enlarge until the full image is seen easier to tell when it is fully loaded an...

Page 81: ...oscopy Ultimately it is a tool used for coloring and separating color channels in an image for highlighting areas of interest 1 To use this function a user will need to have captured an image in gray scale in the viewing area This can be performed by capturing an image then going to Image and Mode then selecting Gray Scale 2 Once the image is in gray scale the user can then select Color Composite ...

Page 82: ...ace to add source images to work with To begin select the name of the source image to be used and click Add This will add the image to the color composite list and bring up a new dialog menu asking which color this composite is to be Pick which color you wish to work with either from the slider the palette or the list of dyes stains in the bot tom drop down menu and hit OK when complete ...

Page 83: ...gamma G Background allows an image to be set as a non mixed image so not affected by settings selected here allowing for example a red dot on a blue background won t turn the dot magenta The user may continue to add images change colors and turn layers on off by clicking the color box next to the image name in the composite list When finished close the box and the newly composited image will be di...

Page 84: ...ithin an image as well as use segmented areas to perform counting procedures Because of the complexity and flexibility of this tool there are a variety of different methods used to perform these functions The methods available to segment an image are shown in the Segmentation Count menu expansion when hovering over the menu option under Process Only one method can be used per image ...

Page 85: ...items of interest Approximation Assigns whether the segments will be estimated as circles ellipses or none the actual shape and size of the segment With Holes This tick box enables the segmentation method to create holes within a segment for areas that do not fit the segment Outline Style Assigns whether the segments will be colored in outlined or none simply numbered Outline Color Assigns which c...

Page 86: ...ware considers a segment Anything below the minimum or above the maximum value in area will be excluded from being a segment in pixels Perimeter px Minimum Maximum Allows the user to create an upper and lower limit for what the soft ware considers a segment Anything below the minimum or above the maximum value in area will be excluded from being a segment in pixels ...

Page 87: ...nd missegmentation Approximation Assigns whether the segments will be estimated as circles ellipses or none the actual shape and size of the segment With Holes This tick box enables the segmentation method to create holes within a segment for areas that do not fit the segment Outline Style Assigns whether the segments will be colored in outlined or none simply numbered Outline Color Assigns which ...

Page 88: ...ware considers a segment Anything below the minimum or above the maximum value in area will be excluded from being a segment in pixels Perimeter px Minimum Maximum Allows the user to create an upper and lower limit for what the soft ware considers a segment Anything below the minimum or above the maximum value in area will be excluded from being a segment in pixels ...

Page 89: ...d Outline Color Assigns which color the segments or outlines will be colored in Label Method Assigns how the segments will be labeled XOR contrasts the numbers against the background true allows a color to be selected for all and false eliminates numbering the sections entirely Label Color When true is selected as the Label Method will allow selection of the color to use for the num bering Label T...

Page 90: ...s Segmentation Count Perimeter px Minimum Maximum Allows the user to create an upper and lower limit for what the soft ware considers a segment Anything below the minimum or above the maximum value in area will be excluded from being a segment in pixels ...

Page 91: ...am method are the minimum and maximum values of that color to filter out or include The user can either input precise values in there or simply drag the limit bars along the histogram while viewing the results on the image itself The drop down menu next to it allows the user to select between red green and blue channels each with their own minimum maximum values The Show All tick box toggles betwe...

Page 92: ...92 MU Series Windows User s Manual Process Menu Tools Segmentation Count ...

Page 93: ... there or simply drag the limit bars along the histogram while viewing the results on the image itself The drop down menu next to it allows the user to select between hue saturation and value channels each with their own minimum maximum values The Show All tick box toggles between displaying a single channel and all channels in the histogram The drop down menu to the right allows the user to selec...

Page 94: ...94 MU Series Windows User s Manual Process Menu Tools Segmentation Count ...

Page 95: ...xel colors from the segmenta tion divisions The drop down menu next to it selects how large the circle of pixels is selected by the pipette with the average of the area selected being the actual color added to the segmentation The tolerance section allows the user to create a margin of error used when selecting a color A greater toler ance will allow more variance in color of the pixels selected b...

Page 96: ...96 MU Series Windows User s Manual Process Menu Tools Segmentation Count ...

Page 97: ...unique segments the object select tool can be used to manually select a segment and split them manually into two segments Note that this will require a bit of drawing using the mouse so accuracy is dependant on the user and how steady their hand is for mouse manipulation Count Result Count Result is another tool used to display statistics of the counted data from the above methods Some statistics ...

Page 98: ...e from an image Adaptive Wiener Filter This method preserves more detail than those of the median mean and Gauss style filters This is the best method to select to remove Poisson and Gaussian noise additive and multiplicative style noises Noise levels are automatically calculated since they are difficult to estimate and precisely enter This is also the most hands off method of noise removal Once t...

Page 99: ...ghted average of pixels over a given area to extrapolate what is noise and what is not over a separate area not adjacent to the search area This allows a user to denoise more accurately than only denoising over a local area via the adjacent pixels and provides greater flexibility in repro ducing accurate to object images The Strength slider refers to the aggressiveness of the software s noise remo...

Page 100: ...arpen function has two different methods UnSharp Mark Contrary to it s odd sounding name the UnSharp Mask method is actually a sharpen ing method The name comes from the process it uses to create a sharper image by taking an unsharp positive image with a negative of the original image and merging the two in order to create additional contrast in the positive image The Radius slider refers to the s...

Page 101: ...ecome Another way to visualize it is how much contrast is added at the edges Laplacian Sharpen The Laplacian Sharpen method is used to sharpen any detail in an image however because it sharpens any discontinuity things like noise can also get sharpened It s recommended to use a Smooth function and or a Denoise function prior to using the Laplacian Sharpen method to ensure that the fine details enh...

Page 102: ...alues to adjust how it is displayed on a monitor Gamma This function allows a user to measure and adjust the amount of brightness that the midtone colored pixels have in an image as produced by a display device such as a monitor The higher this slider is positioned the darker the midtones will appear Note that this is not controlling the actual gamma setting of your monitor but is a software adjus...

Page 103: ...e the lightness values of the image It is best used to ajdust local contrast levels howeer noise can be amplified so it is best to wait to use this function until the image has been run through a Denoise process then a Smoothing process before using the Histogram Equalization function The Strength slider is used to quantify how aggressive the equlaization of the histogram will be The larger the va...

Page 104: ...ously found If the mask is greater than 128 it will result in an exponent less than 1 while if the mask value is lower than 128 it will result in an exponent greater than 1 If the mask value is precisely 128 the expo nent will be 1 and won t have an effect on the input image It can be thought of as a pixel wise gamma correc tion The Strength slider quantifies how strong the color correction functi...

Page 105: ...ance Mor phological and Kernel Note that the Filter function will be grayed out unless a photo is available for filtering in the viewing area the live view cannot be filtered only a snapped still image can be used Clicking on the Filter option will bring up the dialog menu containing a number of available filters to use with the AmScope ToupView software containing the four tabs mentioned above Im...

Page 106: ...ntrast from its neighboring pixel area Leaving only elements of high contrast in an image is the hallmark of the High Pass filter Gauss Gauss is a method of softening an image by eliminating high frequency information to blurr an im age softening sharp edges This method is similar to the Low Pass method but degrades the image less than the Low Pass filter High Gauss This method of filtering enhanc...

Page 107: ... 100 the greater the value the greater the difference between the filtered pixel value and the original pixel value will be When Rank is selected the Strength parameter will disappear and the Rank parameter will appear This value specifies which pixel in the sorted ascended pixel array will be used to replace the center pixel Pixels are indexed from 0 to Kernel x Kernel 1 where 0 corresponds to th...

Page 108: ...ple rather than enhancing the total image overall These are best used for when the shape of your sample is what is being reviewed moreso than overall composition Sobel This filter enahnces just the principal edges in an image by applying a mathematical formula to a 3x3 pixel neighborhood to locate and highlight edges Roberts This filter enhances fine edges in an image by applying a mathematical fo...

Page 109: ... sequentially The more passes the more times the filter is applied Strength is a percentage derivative where each value represents 10 strength of the filter application 10 thus provides the full strength of the filter of 100 the greater the value the greater the difference between the filtered pixel value and the original pixel value will be Note No paramters will be available as options if Sobel ...

Page 110: ...s processing method The radio buttons change the size of the kernel picking the one most closely matching the grain of the desired detection area provides best results Gradient The Gradient filter enhances edges in an image Watershed The Watershed filter separates objects that are touching by eroding objects until they disap pear then dilating them again preventing them from touching Watershed doe...

Page 111: ... the Tophat Well or Gradient filters are selected the parameters will also relate to kernal size and shape with the following options 3x3 Uses a 3x3 square kernel 5x5 Uses a 5x5 square kernel 7x7 Uses a 757 square kernel If the Watershed Thinning or Distance filters are selected the parameters will alter the threshold of each filter The Threshold slider allows the user to enter a percentage value ...

Page 112: ... alone as deleting or modify ing a core kernel without creating a new separate kernel will require a reinstallation to fix Note HiPass LowPass Laplacian and Unsharp kernel files are used by the HiPass LowPass Laplacian and Sharpen options in the Image Enhancement Filters page dialog window Because these kernels are essential to the operation of these functions they must never be deleted or renamed...

Page 113: ... a short video to get a high quality set of images at ease without worrying about image rotation shifting or scaling between the series of images 1 Begin by capturing a short video of the sample desired to image stack or locating a video that the user would like to use that was pre recorded It does not need to be moved in any direction nor moving The more still the video the better the final stack...

Page 114: ...ong a selected line are distributed by graphi ing the number of pixels at each color intensity level along that line 1 Begin by clicking the Line tool in the top tool bar and drawing a line where you would like to check the color intensity of the pixels 2 Click the Process menu and click Line Profile to generate the line profile graph ...

Page 115: ...ts the spatial scale of the line and the Y axis represents intensity values ranging from 0 to 255 A gray scale image will provide a gray value instead of RGB red green blue his togram If the image is an HSV image RGB will be replaced with HSV hue saturation value The Background button opens the window color dialog box to allow you to adjust what colors are considered the background and which are c...

Page 116: ...e The Title button allows the user to set a title for the graph Pressing Capture will save the line profile graph as an image for later recall Copy will copy the contents of the Line Profile graph onto the clipboard Save As allows the graph to be saved in a bmp format ...

Page 117: ...ight and Z pixel gray value variables The more intense higher grey value a pixel the taller it is on the topographical mapping of the image while X and Y refer to the position of the pixel 1 Begin using a captured image and click Process and Surface Plot to open the 3 D Setup menu The software will render a three dimensional sculpture of the image s topography based on pixel intensity gray value a...

Page 118: ...sed on the color intensity scale 50 Usually this results in the image be ing centered however it can be adjusted if particularly high or low intensity values are being reported The second value determines the scale of the gray values used to create the topography 1 is default for a 100 scale Increasing this number will create a larger rendering by manipulating gray values up down by the num ber in...

Page 119: ...active image in the viewing window as a new image Color Table This function allows the user to select which colors to map the gray values found in the surface plot The drop down menu at either end of the table spectrum open up color selection dialog windows with defaults and custom color options to select ...

Page 120: ...is captured to color above a certain gray value in that color 1 Begin using a captured image saved in Gray Scale mode and click Process and Pseudo Color to open the color table These colors can be selected to assign what color the gray values should be much like in the Surface Plot color spectrum selection The entire image will be ranged and assigned a color based on the gray value intensity in al...

Page 121: ...121 MU Series Windows User s Manual Process Menu Tools Pseudo Color 2 The above color spectrum settings result in an image like seen below ...

Page 122: ...t the upper and lower intensity limits by either dragging the limit lines in the graph or inputting exact values in the numerical areas in the upper section All values between 0 and the lower limit will appear as black while all values between the upper limit and 255 will be white The various buttons allow the user to manipulate the numbers in a quick manner Best Fit automatically sets the range w...

Page 123: ...ld will be turned white while those below will be turned black This is mainly used as a step in a process for other tools however can be used on its own if preferred although some detail and data is lost in the image The numerical value allows you to set the threshold between 0 and 255 where the binary division is while Best Fit automatically selects that threshold for maximum retention of detail ...

Page 124: ...on of the layers in an image can be found at the bottom of the left navigation bar in a tab named Layer New The New function creates a new layer in the image and allows the user to input a name for it Remove This menu function will delete the currently visible layer Current The Current function brings up a drop down menu allowing the user to select which layer they wish to have active Show Hide Th...

Page 125: ...alues in pixels px unless calibrated to a unit of known measurement Please see the Calibration section under Options Menu in this manual for instructions on calibration Scale Bar This menu option enables the user to place a scale bar on the image for easy reference of size Z Order Z Order contains a menu that refers to the position of an item relative to other items superimposed on the image much ...

Page 126: ...ool outputs are displayed Magnification The Magnification option will open a list of all the currently saved magnification options Calibrate The Calibrate tool allows a user to use a micrometer slide or ruler any unit of known mea surement visible through the microscope to tell the software how many pixels px are in a unit of known measurement inches millimeters microns allowing the software to ex...

Page 127: ...nctions Directory is the folder in which the files are saved Name Format refers to how the images will be named numbered in sequence etc File Prefix allows a user to designate an alphanumeric prefix to be placed before the file name File Type refers to the file extension used to save the photos png jpg etc Option allows the user to set whether the images will be interlaced or not Sample feeds back...

Page 128: ... Windows User s Manual Options Menu Functions Preferences Menu File The File tab refers to the file extensions the software is capable of using and whether or not those file extensions should show in the Browse mode ...

Page 129: ...ever for the bottom or footer of the printed images The Y param eter refers to the year while the m parameter is the month and the d parameter is the date of the current month Print the measurement items when ticked will print the measurements drawn on the image with the print out Print the measurement table will print out a table of specifications of the measurements on the drawing in addition to...

Page 130: ...select whether the software should automatically populate a grid if the user wishes to manually make a grid or if no grid is to be applied to new images Line Style gives the user a choice between how strongly rendered the lines in the grid will be depending on what style is selected Line Color allows the choice of what color the grid lines will be in the image useful for ensuring that there is eno...

Page 131: ...u Functions Preferences Menu Cursor The Cursor tab provides parameters regarding the mouse cursor when in the viewing area allowing greater contrast and visibility by adding vertical and horizontal line features or changing the cursor itself or both ...

Page 132: ...nu Functions Preferences Menu Capture The Capture tab provides two options for users to select whether they would like the image to capture with the marker and watermark capture with the measurement annotations capture with both or capture neither ...

Page 133: ...ignificant figures shown font ap pearance and display of specific items Calculation Results Keep allows the user to choose how many significant figures are involved when displaying measurements and calculations Label font size adjusts how large the font used to display measurement labels appears Label color changes the display color of the label Dimensions with unit when ticked shows the name of t...

Page 134: ... record of units of measurement the software has input Note that unless these are calibrated using the calibration process they still will not work as a selection for method of measurement These are only unit names the software still needs calibration for measurement at given magnification to extrapolate data ...

Page 135: ... record of units of measurement the software has input Note that unless these are calibrated using the calibration process they still will not work as a selection for method of measurement These are only unit names the software still needs calibration for measurement at given magnification to extrapolate data ...

Page 136: ...nt Menu Angle Unit This menu allows the user to select which unit angles are measured in The drop down menu contains the various angular measurement units while the tick box when checked shows all angle units in the measurement side bar or hides them all if not desired ...

Page 137: ... user to select which parameters they wish to have displayed on the measure ment sheet The Up and Down buttons allow the user to sort the order they appear on the sheet while Default sets them back to factory order When ticked each item will display on the sheet while when unticked they will not appear ...

Page 138: ... ment sheet based on which specific tool is used to create that measurement Each section will be labelled with the tool it affects such as Point and Line Each section allows modifica tion of the colors style size and units of the tool and of other components of the tool Each section explains itself rather thoroughly and each individual section will not be covered in this manual ...

Page 139: ... user to modify the list of saved magnifications the software has based on calibation processes previously performed Import and Export can be used to save calibration data tied to measurements as a file to be imported with a new system Nothing will appear in this section until calibration procedures have been performed ...

Page 140: ...al distance and mea sured distance 1 Begin by switching the magnification on your microscope to your desired calibration setting and placing a unit of known measurement on the stage The smaller the division the more accurate the measurement func tions will be down to 0 01mm the smallest guaranteed accuracy level of the camera and software 2 Focus on the micrometer slide or ruler while looking at t...

Page 141: ...magnifications without recalibrating easily swapping right on the upper tool bar as needed 7 Although having all magnifications possible with the microscope or at least those intended for frequent use is convenient and the software will not lose accuracy over time depending on the type of microscope getting the exact magnification previously calibrated at may be difficult especially for zooming st...

Page 142: ...traction Emission Wavelength refer to the barrier limits of the dye being used and will adjust where in the spectrum of light the color should be if input Color refers to the color produced between the wavelength settings New allows a user to create their own custom dye Delete removes a dye from the dye list Save allows the saving of a custom dye Reset moves the slider and wavelength settings back...

Page 143: ...s Manual Options Menu Functions Auto Correction Menu The Auto Correction options menu enables the user to adjust the clipping strengths of the high and low end functions of the Auto Level and Auto Contrast quick filter functions ...

Page 144: ...the viewing area to the default gray empty area as seen upon first loading the software by closing all other tabs and windows Reset Window Layout The Reset Window Layout function will return all tabs and windows to the top bar without closing them Windows This brings up a custom menu allowing users to choose windows to either activate as the cur rent window in view save certain tabs or simply clos...

Page 145: ...y with lens cleaning solution and non abrasive optical lens cloth Stains dust or dirt have accumulated on a lens in the microscope Remove the camera and use a can of compressed air to remove any dust dirt or debris from the port it sits in and ensure any and all objectives are cleaned using lens cleaning solution and a non abrasive optical lens cloth The sample is not in focus Not all microscopes ...

Page 146: ...pen the port shutter where the camera is in stalled or move to another port Cap is left on the camera reduction lens Remove the camera from the port and wave it around the room while watching the screen If no color change is seen the camera has a cap on it Remove reduction lens and camera body and check all ends for caps stickers Remove and retry Light on microscope is not on Turn on the light fro...

Page 147: ...r camera or the USB cable is defective malfunctioning Try using a different USB port on your computer and if still providing an error try a different USB cable with both already tested ports If still mal functioning try a different computer if available If still malfunctioning the likely culprit is the camera itself Error Message Device has been pulled polled out The USB port used with the camera ...

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