New Cameras Provide Microscopists with Unprecedented Color Resolution

A new line of ultrahigh-resolution digital cameras suitable for use in all microscope applications is now available to biotech and life science researchers.

The Olympus (Hamburg, Germany) DP73 and DP73WDR digital cameras are described as providing the complete solution for all brightfield or fluorescence microscope photography requirements.

Olympus explains that these cameras are able to provide high resolution, accurate and vibrant color reproduction, as well as effective fluorescence performance thanks to active Peltier cooling. A Peltier element is often used to cool down photon detectors in astronomical telescopes or very high-end digital cameras. This reduces dark counts due to thermal noise. A dark count occurs when a pixel generates an electron because of a thermal fluctuation rather than because it has received a photon. On digital photos taken at low light, these occur as speckles (or "pixel noise").

This is especially important with these cameras, as Olympus’ new 3CCD mode provides an unprecedented maximum resolution of 17.28 megapixels. Photons hitting the surface of the device release electrons from outer shells which are collected and stored in capacitors. The accumulated electrons are “counted” in regular intervals by measuring the electronic potential stored by the capacitor. These signals are in turn converted into discrete digital numbers. The 3CCD mode in the new Olympus cameras improves color accuracy by capturing true RGB values for every recorded pixel without the need for color interpolation.

The DP73WDR also includes Olympus’s “WiDER” technology, which automatically optimizes tonal curves and gain in each region of the image. This occurs in real-time, and, together with the broad sensitivity ranges (ISO 100-1600), minimizes the effects of under- or overexposure, clearly showing all the details in very bright and very dark areas at the same time.

Both cameras include a high-definition live mode that makes sample browsing using the monitor comfortable, fluid, and easy, and which allows high definition data to be easily shared with colleagues.

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