Deep Wells and Dark Currents: CCD Cameras Offer Microscopists an Immediate, Distortion-free, Quantifiable Image

Date: July 20, 1998CCD Cameras, Image Processing Software For the biologist interested in cell structure-function relationships or cell and tissue dynamics, the quest has long been for a magnifying detector that is stable, quantitative, and sufficiently sensitive to eliminate phototoxicity or photobleaching and, in the limit, allow continuous observation without perturbation. If the data from one's detector can be immediately analyzed and displayed in a favorite software application, so much the better. Charge coupled device (CCD) cameras now offer the flexibility to acquire distortion-free, quantitative, high resolution images from a microscope or other instrument in an easily manipulated format. Image data can be efficiently collected, processed, and displayed in a number of ways. Rapid developments in other digital device designs such as charge injection device (CID) and complementary metal oxide surface (CMOS) promise to press the manufacturers of CCD cameras to even greater improvements and to put these technologies in ...