Zeiss AxioCam MRc5, Installation Reference Manual

Page 1: ...AxioCam MRc5 Installation Reference 10 2003 000000 1256 586 Number of this manual B 48 0028 e Date of issue 05 2003 Date of the last revision update 10 2003...

Page 2: ...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 Vision This manual is protected by copyright Carl Zeiss Vision ha...

Page 3: ...Safety Refer to the safety notes and instructions in the manuals of all necessary devices e g microscope peripherals cameras computers computer additionals etc before installing and using the software...

Page 4: ...Revision Update Information 27 10 2003 Installation adapted from Product CD 07 2003 to the installation of the product CD number 15 of October 2003...

Page 5: ...amera to the PC 11 Operating the AxioCam MRc5 on a PC with onboard FireWire interface 12 Connecting the camera to the PC 12 Operating the AxioCam MRc5 on a notebook 13 Operating the AxioCam MRc5 on a...

Page 6: ...ow Standard 36 Step by step to the first image 37 2 3 Adjust Property Page 42 Exposure 43 Automatic exposure 44 White Balance 45 Color adjustment 46 Histogram 46 2 4 Frame Property Page 48 Camera Mode...

Page 7: ...e iii Gamma setting 63 Linearity of AxioCam MRc5 63 Fluorescence images 63 Configurable toolbars for operating the camera 64 3 Trouble Shooting 65 3 1 Software 65 3 2 Image Quality 66 4 Technical Data...

Page 8: ...cables To avoid this kind of damage we urge you to take careful note of the following points before inserting or removing the AxioCam MRc5 s FireWire cable Avoid hot plugging with devices that are pow...

Page 9: ...arefully and observe the regulations in order to ensure your safety and the intended operation of the system Please observe the warnings and notes printed in this manual and on the unit The digital ca...

Page 10: ...f the following safety regulations are closely observed The electrical installations of the room where the system is to be set up must conform to IEC requirements Warning Any interruption of the PE co...

Page 11: ...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 Make sure there is sufficient ventilatio...

Page 12: ...resulting from insufficient data protection 1 2 System Requirements Contents of Delivery Minimum hardware and software requirements INTEL Pentium III processor 600 MHz or faster 256 MB RAM 20 GB hard...

Page 13: ...eal color CD ROM drive One free FireWire slot OHCI compatibel 400 Mbits s transfer rate respectively a free PCI slot PCI Local Bus specification rev 2 1 or higher for the FireWire PCI bus interface 17...

Page 14: ...nts of Delivery AxioCam MRc5 camera head FireWire data cable 6 pin to 6 pin for power supply to the AxioCam MRc5 and for data transmission between camera and computer CD ROM with device driver for Axi...

Page 15: ...erface onboard Notebook 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 MRc5 package ad...

Page 16: ...d on However please bear in mind that after the AxioCam MRc5 has been inserted it is necessary to restart AxioVision to ensure that the camera is recognized in the application Operating the AxioCam MR...

Page 17: ...mend that you work only on an antistatic mat For installation of the FireWire PCI bus interface card please also take into account the notes in the interface card documentation Only the basic principl...

Page 18: ...er FireWire or USB devices you can configure the FireWire PCI bus interface card in accordance with the manufacturer s documentation Switch off your PC and all connected peripherals Disconnect the PC...

Page 19: ...eWire cable with a 6 pin connector at both ends This is supplied with the camera Connect the FireWire cable of the AxioCam MRc5 to the PCI bus interface card Connecting the AxioCam MRc5 to the FireWir...

Page 20: ...a FireWire cable with a 6 pin connector at both ends This cable is supplied with the camera Connect the FireWire cable of the AxioCam MRc5 to the onboard FireWire interface of the PC Connecting the Ax...

Page 21: ...ce card connection of the camera to the notebook s integrated onboard FireWire interface In both cases the FireWire hub is also required to supply power to the AxioCam MRc5 The AxioCam MRc5 is connect...

Page 22: ...d peripherals Insert the FireWire PCcard CardBus interface card into the appropriate slot on the notebook Connecting the camera to the notebook Lay the data cable carefully between the camera and the...

Page 23: ...face card Connecting the AxioCam MRc5 to the FireWire PCcard interface card The camera is powered by the FireWire hub The hub must therefore be connected to the power supply If you switch off the Fire...

Page 24: ...at To ensure the efficient use of energy resources the FireWire slots on the notebook are not designed to supply power to peripheral devices A FireWire hub should therefore be used to supply power to...

Page 25: ...r supply If you switch off the FireWire hub the 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 FireWi...

Page 26: ...the opening on the camera Never touch 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 moun...

Page 27: ...an be used to open and close an external shutter via trigger output signals This functionality is not yet available in the current version of the driver Checking the equipment has been set up correctl...

Page 28: ...most up to date software tools and methods This means that you must first update your computer s operating system to this same standard to ensure that things will run smoothly The files to be installe...

Page 29: ...e is the same for Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP Professional but is displayed in this Installation Guide with screenshots of Windows 2000 Professional If you have fitted a PCI bus or a PCca...

Page 30: ...the instructions in chapter Installing the camera driver with the setup program Once you have connected the AxioCam MRc5 the Found New Hardware Wizard dialog appears on your screen Please ensure that...

Page 31: ...Installation Reference 23 Select the option Search for a suitable driver for my device recommended Click Next Activate the check box CD ROM drives Click Next The following dialog window shows the actu...

Page 32: ...Click Yes to continue Under Windows XP Professional the Hardware Installation dialog window is displayed In this window click on Continue Installation The last dialog window of the hardware wizard is...

Page 33: ...ry updated The AxioCam MRc5 must therefore be connected to the PC and be in ready mode green LED during the installation procedure If you have fitted a FireWire PCI bus or a PCcard CardBus interface c...

Page 34: ...he language you want to install English or German and click 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...

Page 35: ...e camera s firmware If the firmware needs to be updated a message to this effect is displayed by the installation program Click on OK to start updating the firmware This procedure may take a few minut...

Page 36: ...o check the installation Click Start Settings Control Panel Double click the System icon The System Properties dialog will be displayed Select the property page Hardware and here the Device Manager bu...

Page 37: ...ger must be corrected i e if a question mark or an exclamation mark is in front of the AxioCam MRc5 entry proceed as follows Please make sure that during all the steps described below the CD ROM conta...

Page 38: ...of the AxioCam MRc5 30 B 48 0028 e 10 2003 The property page General opens In this case reinstall the AxioCam MRc5 using the installation program see section Installing the camera driver using the se...

Page 39: ...Reference 31 After the camera driver has been installed and depending on the operating system you are using your computer has been restarted the property window now contains the following entry The e...

Page 40: ...accordance with the description in the section Setting up the camera system The LED on the back of the camera lights up in red briefly and then goes out Press the button next to the expansion socket...

Page 41: ...y of the resulting image dark points cloudy structures in the image If there is dry dust on the front side of the infrared filter you can remove it with a soft brush or with cotton wool after unscrewi...

Page 42: ...nd with very high camera resolution As it has a number of selectable acquisition modes the camera can be adapted flexibly in terms of acquisition speed and quality to suit a variety of acquisition con...

Page 43: ...ect AxioCam MRc5 function The image acquisition can also be easily done via the toolbar Open the corresponding menu by clicking on The text below describes how to achieve your first image in AxioVisio...

Page 44: ...e white balance etc Snap acquires an image using 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...

Page 45: ...e window is opened to display the camera image This function can also be called up via the Acquisition Live menu Now focus the camera image and select the frame you want to acquire In the footer you c...

Page 46: ...c5 38 B 48 0028 e 10 2003 Here you can 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 ada...

Page 47: ...an be used for fine adjustment of the exposure time As a color camera the AxioCam MRc5 needs to perform a white balance for the image If you select the automatic balance Automatic button the camera tr...

Page 48: ...ind 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 appropriate scaling must h...

Page 49: ...ave it with the Settings 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 c...

Page 50: ...Property Page This property page contains a summary of the most important camera settings which are constantly used during operation The property page is splitted in the fields Exposure White Balance...

Page 51: ...ering a new exposure time manually This measurement function uses all the image information from the camera sensor for the exposure measurement as standard integral measurement NOTE More detailed info...

Page 52: ...xtends the effective exposure time to 100 ms which ensures that the darker area of the sample is exposed more brightly The brightest area of the image which is not of interest is overexposed here by 2...

Page 53: ...ased accordingly The icon allows you to switch back to the basic white balance setting This setting is optimized for a halogen light temperature at 3 200 K NOTE Setting the white balance to 3200 K gen...

Page 54: ...WhiteBlue in the menu Tools Settings Editor Histogram A histogram indicates the intensity distribution of the image signal in the live image and the acquired image It provides a clear representation o...

Page 55: ...the automatic scaling of the display small signal values are often not visible in the diagram Skip This function can be used to influence the automatic scaling of the histogram If an image contains an...

Page 56: ...d to select a frame for the image acquisition and is splitted in the fields Camera Mode and Frame Camera Mode RGB and B W With the AxioCam MRc5 you can use these setting options RGB or B W to determin...

Page 57: ...ope magnifications to ensure the optimum recording of the objective s resolution The disadvantage of this technique however is that it is less well suited to changing acquisition conditions or moving...

Page 58: ...x 242 8x8 Mono 430 x 322 6x6 Color 646 x 484 4x4 Mono 1292 x 968 2x2 Color 1292 x 968 2x2 Mono 2584 x 1936 Single exposure interpolated from half of sensor s basic resolution Color Optical adaptation...

Page 59: ...e case of 2x2 binning out of 2584x1936 pixels 1292x1936 pixels remain Resulting file size The size of the resulting image file depends on the choice of binning mode and consequently the resolution The...

Page 60: ...possible to move the frame by clicking inside it and keeping the button depressed as you change its position Center By clicking on Center you can automatically center the selected frame This can be u...

Page 61: ...rty page you enter the basic settings for the camera Digital Gain Using the slider it is possible to change the interpretation of the brightness of the image data received This allows you to display d...

Page 62: ...er Image Orientation An AxioCam MRc5 image is adjusted in such a way that the image orientation corresponds to the image in the eyepiece when mounted on an upright microscope with the front of the cam...

Page 63: ...ual pixels This measure is additional to the camera s available Peltier cooling and allows a uniformly dark and even image background to be achieved even with long integration times Activating the bla...

Page 64: ...dure in accordance with the requirements 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...

Page 65: ...teristic curve 2 6 Practical Notes on Operation in AxioVision Below you will find a few practical notes on the speed of the live image color adjustment working with exposure times fluorescence images...

Page 66: ...will not influence the quality of the final image Notes on optimum color reproduction in AxioVision Below you will find a detailed description of how best to set up AxioVision to achieve optimum color...

Page 67: ...also be carried out simply by shifting the offset of the characteristic curve Clicking on this icon returns to a linear display of the data 2 7 Information for Displaying 12 Bit Images in AxioVision A...

Page 68: ...stic curve or carry out automatic optimization by clicking on the corresponding buttons A histogram of the gray and color values will be displayed which makes the gray and color distribution visible T...

Page 69: ...the maximum values at the upper and lower end of the histogram are omitted during the scaling of the display The and scrollbars can be used to change the brightness contrast and gamma of the display T...

Page 70: ...e acquired image is to be displayed with a neutral tint gray a manual white balance is required Click on the White Balance button then click on an area in the image that has a neutral tint and is not...

Page 71: ...ntly used for tasks in the field of image analysis Consequently internal gamma compensation has been deliberately omitted from the AxioCam MRc5 Fluorescence images Due to its high sensitivity and the...

Page 72: ...nal image Check if your fluorescence sample will bleach out within the necessary exposure time If it will you will have to revert to Fast mode with 1292 x 968 pixels A way to reduce the effects of ble...

Page 73: ...software For Windows 2000 Professional and XP Professional Make sure that the camera drivers have been installed with administrator rights No camera image on your screen Check the light setting of th...

Page 74: ...e Repeat the shot and take care to ensure the conditions remain calm Do not use the Quality mode for moving objects Fluctuations in illumination If the light source has a fluctuating quality of light...

Page 75: ...frame rate depends on exposure time and the hard and software of the PC Selectable resolution in Quality mode Interlaced recommended for highest image quality H x V Binning 516 x 387 5 x 5 646 x 484 4...

Page 76: ...2 x 1 7 370 g camera head Housing Blue anodized aluminum with cooling fins connection for tripod mount Registration CE cUL Power supply 12 V DC 250 mA power supplied via FireWire IEEE 1394 interface a...

Page 77: ...ation Reference 69 4 2 Spectral Sensitivity Standardized at maximum amplitude It does not make sense to operate the AxioCam MRc5 color version without an infrared barrier filter as color is only defin...

Page 78: ...e 45 color reproduction 58 color value change 61 components 15 16 configurable toolbars 64 connecting to the notebook 14 16 connecting to the PC 11 12 contents of delivery 4 contrast change 61 control...

Page 79: ...operating on a notebook 13 16 operating on a PC 8 9 12 operating the camera 3 optical adaptation of the camera 50 optical system 33 optimum color reproduction 58 overexposure 47 P PCcard interface on...

Page 80: ...stallation Reference III system requirements 4 T technical data 67 toolbars 64 trouble shooting 65 U underexposure 47 W warranty 2 weighting of exposure time measurement 43 white balance 45 white refe...