Nikon Digital Sight Camera System Web Interface Simulation
When the Nikon Digital Sight web browser interface initializes, two virtual rooms are available to assist the operator from the entry page. In one of these rooms, a single microscope image with a remote control panel appears in the web browser window. This interactive tutorial simulates many of the features present in the Digital Sight browser interface.
The remote controls provided by the browser interface enable a microscopist in a remote location to access many of the features of the camera control unit, including exposure settings, image processing functions, and the ability to capture and download live images in Bitmap or JPEG format. Other noteworthy features include an electronic zoom and pan capability.
The tutorial operates in a manner that is similar to the native Digital Sight web browser interface. When the tutorial initializes, a randomly selected specimen image appears in the image display area of the tutorial window. The Specimen Slide pull-down menu can be utilized to select from among a variety of specimen images. Each specimen name includes, in parentheses, an abbreviation designating the contrast mechanism employed in obtaining the image. The following nomenclature is used: (FL), fluorescence; (BF), brightfield; (PC), phase contrast; (DIC), differential interference contrast (Nomarski); and (POL), polarized light. A pop-up window will notify the visitor when he or she attempts to access a feature that is not available in the tutorial.
Located above the image display area is the Interval Timer (a pull-down menu in this tutorial), which can be used to choose the amount of time that the web browser waits before requesting the next image from the Digital Sight camera control unit. Valid interval settings range between two seconds and ten minutes, but the operator may also choose to disable the image refresh by selecting the None option from the Interval Timer drop-down list.
Also appearing above the image display area is the Quality radio button panel. This setting determines the digital sampling resolution of the image that is transmitted to the browser by the camera control unit. Choosing lower resolution images will result in some loss of quality in the image, although less time will be required to receive each image frame. Selecting higher resolution images will provide excellent quality, but more time will be required to receive each image frame. The 640 x 480 quality setting provides a balance between image quality and download time.
Directly to the right of the image display area appears a control panel that is similar to the control panel of the native Digital Sight web interface. The top half of the panel contains functions for controlling the camera exposure settings as well as the image processing functions of the camera control unit. Clicking the AE button toggles the current camera exposure mode, which is displayed in a text field to the right of the button. Details of the Digital Sight's exposure modes are discussed at length in the Exposure Control and Camera Sensitivity section. The exposure controls for the various exposure modes are described below (refer to the figures that accompany the discussion).
- Program (program AE mode) - In auto exposure program mode, the Comp setting buttons (Figure 1) can be used to change the exposure compensation over a range from -2.0 EV to +2.0 EV in 0.3 EV steps.
- S_AE (shutter speed priority AE mode) - The Speed buttons (illustrated in Figure 2) can be employed to adjust the shutter speed between a range of 1/1000 second to 4 seconds. The Comp setting buttons (Figure 2) can be used to change the exposure compensation over a range from -2.0 EV to +2.0 EV in 0.3 EV steps.
- Manual (manual exposure mode) - In manual mode, the Speed buttons (see Figure 3) can be used to set the shutter speed between a range of 1/1000 second to 60 seconds. The A.Gain toggle buttons (Figure 3) may then be used to set the camera gain over a range from x1 (A_Gain value of 100) to x46 (A_Gain value of 4600).
- F_AE (focus priority exposure mode) - In focus priority mode, the Comp setting buttons (Figure 4) can be used to change the exposure compensation over a range from -2.0 EV to +2.0 EV in 0.3 EV steps.
Image processing features are placed directly beneath the exposure functions in the Digital Sight web browser interface. The Y_GAIN control enables the operator to adjust the digital gain of the output image. Valid gain levels range from between 20 to 260, with a value of 100 as the normal (default) gain setting. The R_GAIN and B_GAIN settings permit the user to adjust the color balance of the output image. The valid setting range for these controls is the same as that for the Y_GAIN settings. The Sharpness control enables the microscopist to choose from among six possible sharpness settings; higher numbers correspond to a sharper image.
The Download BMP and Pick Up JPEG options can be utilized to download the displayed image as a high or medium resolution Bitmap (*.BMP) or JPEG (*.JPG) image file. The JPEG Quality drop-down list is used to select the quality of the downloaded image when the Pick Up JPEG feature is employed. Fine quality provides high image quality with a larger file size, whereas the Normal and Basic quality options offer lower quality images that have smaller file sizes.
Selecting the E.Zoom checkbox will enable an electronic zoom feature that permits the microscopist to view the specimen image at 1/4 its normal size. When the E.Zoom checkbox has been enabled, a rectangular box appears below the checkbox. This box contains a gray rectangle (Zoom Display Region; see Figure 5) that indicates the size and position of the zoomed view relative to the full-sized image that is represented by the surrounding rectangular box. The Panning Buttons (Figure 5) permit the operator to pan the zoomed view over 25 distinct positions within the full-sized image.
In conclusion, the Nikon Digital Sight web browser interface offers a wide variety of options to the remote user for viewing and manipulating digital images by permitting the microscopist to interact directly with the camera control unit via remote control features. The remote control features of the Digital Sight web interface may be enabled or disabled by using the Network Settings panel of the Digital Sight Setup menu.
Contributing Authors
Matthew J. Parry-Hill and Michael W. Davidson - National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, 1800 East Paul Dirac Dr., The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, 32310.
