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DCM 2 Online
User Manual
153 pgs948.05 Kb0

Polaroid DCM 2 Online User Manual

DMC 2
Online User Guide
Contents
Navigating in This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
DMC 2 Camera Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Taking Pictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Typical Picture-Taking Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Turning the Camera On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Selecting a DMC Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Framing and Focusing the Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Choosing a Capture Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Choosing Color or Grayscale Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Rotating the Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Enlarging the Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Setting Exposure Automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Next
Calibrating Auto Exposure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Setting Exposure Manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Setting Sensitivity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Selecting Color Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Creating a Custom Color Temperature Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Selecting Image Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Selecting Image Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Image File Sizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Capturing the Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Capturing a Rapid Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Printing the Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Enhancing the Image with DMC 2 Software . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Automatically Adjusting Color Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Adjusting Color Balance by Selecting a Whitepoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Adjusting Color Balance by Selecting a Neutral Gray Point . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
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Adjusting Color Balance by Selecting a Blackpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Manually Adjusting Color Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Manually Adjusting Dark Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Manually Adjusting Brightness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Adjusting Gamma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Viewing a Histogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Adjusting Sharpness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Viewing the Full Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Reducing Grain in Long Exposures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Adding a Label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Adding a Calibrated Micron Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Creating a Calibrated Micron Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Deleting a Calibrated Micron Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Saving and Reusing Program Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Program Settings You Can Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
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3
Setting DMC 2 Software Preferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
General Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Remote Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Output Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Camera Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Using the Color Stacker Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Creating a Composite Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Color Stacker Preview Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Camera Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Obtaining Software Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
DMC 2 Camera Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
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System Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
PC Minimum System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Macintosh Minimum System Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Installing Software and Setting Up the Camera . . . . . . . . . . 105
Unpacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Installing the DMC 2 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Attaching the Camera to the Microscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Connecting the Camera to the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Connecting the Camera to AC Power and Turning On . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Taking a Test Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Camera Limited Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Radio and Television Interference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Copyright and Trademark Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
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Polaroid Offices and Service Centers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Solving SCSI Communication Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Changing Sync Transfer Rate on Some Adaptec SCSI Adapters . . . . . 138
Installing a SCSI Host Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
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Navigating in This Document
This Polaroid electronic document uses the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) and its associated Acrobat Reader software. You should familiarize yourself with the controls of the Acrobat reader. Access Help...Reader Online Guide...Viewing PDF Documents...Navigating Pages for more information.
Polaroid electronic documents provide additional navigation tools at the top of the screen. The icons have the following meanings:
Click to go to the table of contents.
Click to return to the previous page.
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7
Click to display these help pages.
Click to open the index.
8
DMC 2 Camera Features
The Polaroid DMC 2 Digital Microscope Camera captures high-quality digital color images from light microscopes and other optical instruments. The camera uses a 2­million-pixel, 11mm CCD (charge coupled device) to capture 14-bit linear RGB images. It transfers these images in seconds to an IBM PC or Power Macintosh com­patible computer in TIFF format with 1600x1200 or 800x600 pixels. On IBM PC com­patible systems, an additional image size of 400x300 is available.
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Using the software provided with the camera, you can:
• Display a color viewfinder image on your computer screen.
• Choose resolution, exposure, sensitivity, color temperature, and other options.
• Automatically adjust exposure.
• Manually adjust color balance, brightness, contrast and sharpness.
• Verify focus digitally.
• Add a calibrated scale to the image.
• Add a title or other text to the image.
• Transfer the image to your image-editing application or hard drive.
• Capture a rapid sequence of images and select one for transfer to your computer.
Note: The DMC 2 software is compatible with DMC 2 and DMC Ie cameras.
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The camera has a SCSI connection requiring no frame-grabber or other special hard­ware or software. (The camera requires a SCSI host adapter, usually built into Macin­tosh computers. SCSI host adapters can also be easily added to PC-compatible computers.)
Compatible with standard .63, 1:1 or larger c-mount adapters, the camera attaches easily to microscopes for most types of transmitted-light and reflected-light micros­copy.
Multiple DMC 2 cameras can be connected in a SCSI chain to a single computer simul­taneously for capturing images from multiple instruments without moving the cam­era or reconnecting cables.
The camera also features a tripod mount, x-sync connection and remote shutter con­nection for use with standard c-mount lenses on a copystand or tripod.
Detailed camera specifications
11
Taking Pictures
Typical Picture-Taking Sequence
1 Turn on the camera.
2 Start the DMC 2 software.
3 Frame and focus the preview.
4 Choose a capture area
5 Choose color or grayscale preview.
6 Rotate the image.
7 Zoom the preview.
8 Set exposure.
9 Set sensitivity.
10 Select color temperature.
11 Select image type.
12 Select image size.
13 Verify sharp focus digitally.
14 Capture the image.
15 Enhance the image.
12
Turning the Camera On
1 Turn off the computer.
2 Turn the camera power switch to on (1).
Power switch (on = 1)
3 Verify that the green and yellow LEDs are on, indicating AC and termination
power are on.
Green LED
Yel lo w L ED
4 Turn on the computer.
13
Starting the DMC 2 Software
Macintosh Windows
Double-click Polaroid DMC 2.
The main DMC 2 window appears.
1 Select Programs from the Start menu. 2 Point to Polaroid Digital Microscope
Camera 2 and select Polaroid DMC 2.
The main DMC 2 window appears.
If more than one DMC camera is connected to the computer, you must select the cam­era to be used in this session. To select a camera, see Selecting a DMC Camera.
14
Selecting a DMC Camera
If more than one DMC camera is connected to the computer, use these steps to select the camera to be used in the current session:
Macintosh Windows
1 Click the Preferences button in
the main DMC 2 window.
2 Click Choose a DMC 2 in the
DMC 2 Preferences box.
3 Choose the SCSI address of the
camera to be used.
4 Click OK to activate the camera. 5 Click Save to close the DMC 2
Preferences box.
1 Click Set Preferences on the Tools
menu.
2 Click the Cameras tab.
3 Click the SCSI address of the camera
to be used.
4 Click OK.
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Framing and Focusing the Preview
1 View the subject through the microscope eyepiece.
2 Adjust subject position, focus and lighting according to the microscope instruc-
tions.
3 If your microscope requires, manually switch the light path to the camera.
4 If a viewfinder image is not visible in the DMC 2 software main window, click the
Preview button. Note: If clicking Preview does not display an image, you may need to adjust expo-
sure or sensitivity before continuing.
Exposure adjustment instructions.
Sensitivity adjustment instructions.
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Choosing a Capture Area
You can capture the entire DMC frame or a smaller, selected area.
To capture an area smaller than the DMC frame:
1 Adjust exposure to obtain an acceptable image on the Viewfinder Display tab of
the main DMC 2 window.
2 Click the Region of Interest Selection tab.
3 Select the size of the frame to be captured (3/4 or 1/2 frame) from the Capture
Area list.
A box defining the selected capture area appears on the image.
4 Position the capture area as desired by dragging it.
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5 Click the Viewfinder Display tab to view only the capture area. The values avail-
able in the Image Size box correspond to the capture area you selected.
6 Continue with the picture-taking sequence.
18
Choosing Color or Grayscale Preview
You can view the preview image in the DMC 2 main window in either color or gray­scale. A color preview provides a more accurate representation of the final image, while a grayscale preview refreshes faster.
To view a color preview image, select Color in the main DMC 2 window. To view a grayscale preview image, deselect Color.
19
Rotating the Image
To correct picture orientation, you can rotate the preview image 180 degrees by clicking the rotate button.
When you rotate the preview image, the final image is also rotated.
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Enlarging the Preview
You can enlarge the view of the preview image for focusing and closely inspecting detail while framing. Enlarging the view does not affect the final image.
To enlarge the preview image:
1 Click the image to display the zoom and focus box.
2 Drag the zoom and focus box to the area of interest.
3 To zoom in, click . To zoom out, click .
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Setting Exposure Automatically
1 If you have not done so, calibrate automatic exposure for the current lighting and
specimen conditions. See Calibrating Auto Exposure.
2 Click the Auto button in the main DMC 2 window.
3 Wait a few seconds for the DMC 2 software to optimize the exposure.
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Calibrating Auto Exposure
1 Manually set exposure to the optimum position for the current setup. See Setting
Exposure Manually.
2 Click Calibrate Auto Exposure on the To o l s menu. 3 Click the Set button in the Auto Exposure Calibration box.
23
Setting Exposure Manually
Drag the Exposure slider right or left to adjust the camera shutter speed for brighten­ing or darkening the image.
Range: 20 milliseconds (far left) to 8 seconds (far right).
24
Setting Sensitivity
Choose a sensitivity (camera gain) setting from the Sensitivity list:
• Low (ISO 25 equivalent)
• Medium (ISO 50 equivalent)
• High (ISO 100 equivalent).
The default setting is Medium (ISO 50 equivalent).
25
Selecting Color Temperature
You can select one of the standard color temperatures to match your lighting:
• Tungsten (3200K)
• Daylight (5500K)
These color temperatures are appropriate for many lighting situations, but best results are often obtained by creating and using a custom color temperature. This cus­tom temperature appears as Custom in the Color Temperature list.
See Creating a Custom Color Temperature.
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Creating a Custom Color Temperature Setting
If the standard color temperature settings are inappropriate for your lighting, you can create a custom color temperature setting based on the actual lighting.
To create a custom color temperature:
Macintosh Windows
1 Select Calibrate Custom Color Tem-
perature from the Color Temp popup menu.
2 Obtain a properly exposed and
focused image in the DMC 2 preview window.
3 Move the specimen to view a clear
area of the slide.
Next
1 Click Calibrate Custom Color Tem-
perature on the To o l s menu.
2 Obtain a properly exposed and
focused image in the DMC 2 preview window.
3 Move the specimen to view a clear
area of the slide.
27
Creating a Custom Color Temperature Setting (continued)
Macintosh Windows
4 Click Calibrate.
5 Wait for the Calibrate Color Tempera-
ture box to close.
6 To use the custom setting, select Cus-
tom from the Color Temp popup
menu.
4 Click Begin.
5 Wait for the Calibrate Custom Color
Temperature box to close.
6 To use the custom setting, select Cus-
tom from the Color Temperature
box.
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Selecting Image Type
You can select one of these image types for your final image from the Image Type box:
• 48-Bit Color (68.7 billion colors)
• 24-Bit Color (16.7 million colors)
• 16-Bit Grayscale (65,000 gray shades)
• 8-Bit Grayscale (256 gray shades)
The image type you choose affects the size of the image file. See Image File Sizes.
Note: Before saving images as 48-bit color or 16-bit grayscale, verify that other appli­cations you intend to use support TIFF images in those formats. For example, Adobe Photoshop version 5 supports 48-bit color images, but earlier versions do not.
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