Amcap Software For Usb Microscope
Sanny Olafeso
I bought a USB Camera DMC-1213 and I would like to use it to acquire images and videos through Labview. The camera comes with its own software and the driver was installed automatically in plug and play but unfortunately I can use the camera only through its own software called EZimage.
What I can see from Widows device manager is that the Microsoft installed a default driver called USB Camera DMC-1213 with driver version 10.0.15063.447 for my Aven Mighty Scope 5M digital microscope. The device come with a CD that contains a single file called EZimageX2Win that extracted a folder to C drive called_binWIN32 with lots of DLL files. I have Labview 2017 64bit. I am wondering that there is an issue of the incompatibility with these dll for 32bits and my windows and labview under 64bit.
If you want to change drivers for something, right click the device in Device Manager -> Update driver software... -> Browse my computer for driver software -> Let me pick from a list -> (list of drivers here)
NI-IMAQdx only works with cameras that conform to specific standards. For this particular USB camera, it needs to support the DirectShow API in order for it to work with IMAQdx. You can call the camera vendor and ask if it supports this API. If it does not, you will not be able to use it with IMAQdx.
I have a Pluggable USB Microscope that defaults to 640x480 and I want to raise the resolution to just under 2MP.. How do I adjust a USB webcam or USB Microscope resolution without a System Preference?
Apparently, your USB microscope should show up in Photo Booth, so you'd have to give that a try. I don't know what make or model your USB microscope is, so i can't really recommend any software or any updates for it. You could try digital viewer... available here
I am using the Pluggable USB Microscope 2MP 250x, and the WebRTC software shows it to have resolutions up to 2MP, but Digital Viewer, Photo Booth, iMovie and other products like Webcam Settings don't seem to see a resolution over 640x480. I have been working with Pluggable Support and they say "some Macs just don't work". I'd hate to think my one-year-old Late-2013 Mac Pro has this as a shortcoming. I have tried reboots, reinstalls, demo packages, different USB paths and PRAM resets. Regardless, the USB Microscope comes up at 640x480.
Finally, I stumbled across an article on Alternatives to AMCap for Mac, and the top voted software product was Debut, from NCH in Australia. I downloaded the free home version (in spite of negative reviews in the Store) and it immediately defaulted to taking 1600x1200 PNG image snapshots. I have some work to do with this by I am encouraged enough that I invested in a Home License of Debut and I'm now lining up the items that need imagery taken at this resolution.
PS. AmCap is a highly regarded video capture package for the wrong operating system and the ten Mac alternatives had varying dates of the most recent update. Even Debut might not be optimized for the pending App doom that I get regular warnings about, but that only seems to happen once so I don't recall if it gave the warning or not.
I'm developing FPGA board which generates grayscale images from scanning electron microscope and considering FX3 for sending that as video over USB. Since there is no colors I wander could it be an easy way to modify FX3 UVC app to transmitt just greyscale images (Y channel) and no color (UV). And if so, would that format be understood by generic UVC drivers? I know YUV format has Y8 and Y16 variations, but it is not anywhere directly mentioned in UVC documentation. Could somebody having FX3 board on the table just try that by disabling UV channels?
Better late than never...
I have grayscale video working from a FX3 to a Linux box. The Linux uvcvideo driver supports the 'Y800' FOURCC.
Windows is not so accommodating. There, I think you would have to register your own codec to interpret the video data.
Steve
Anyway I have developed a UVC camera based on an Aptina sensor specifically for greyscale applications. The sensor normally outputs color but changing a register setting forces it to output only luma information which actually works. Exactly what this means data-wise isn't discussed in the datasheets but it could just be the 'Y' byte (Luma) with the U and V set to 0x80 i.e. zero chrominance (probably easier to quote than arrange)
Interestingly AmCap by default shows a "ColorEnable" tick-box but there is no mention of it in the USB specs or web-discussions, if anyone has the answer please let me know, for the time being I'm using a Vendor Command to access this control.
Andonstar A1-3 is a USB digital microscope with a stable metal stand and classic design which gives a high-tech expression. Equipped with a superior lens and high-quality COMS sensor, A1-3 can produce high-quality images with less delay. Besides, A1-3 is portable, detachable and easy to install. Its 8 LED lights are adjustable by a control wheel, which makes users get clearer images of the object.
The WIFI interface enables wireless connection of the microscope with mobile devices (e.g. smartphone, tablet) and computers, as a result, the preview of the enlarged object will appear on the smartphone screen or monitor.
Omegon Microstar - makes microscopy a piece of cake
For school, university or just as one of the most interesting leisure activities! Observe plants, pollen, hair, rain water, textile fibres, insects and much more besides. The Omegon Microstar offers a simple and inexpensive way of getting started in microscopy.
Insert an object and begin observing
Simple microscopy means that you do not have to be immediately able to make a professional thin-section slide. Simply insert the slide with the leaf or the insect onto the microscope stage. The Omegon Microstar has both transmitted and incident LED lighting available, making even opaque objects or basic specimens amazingly easy to observe. In addition, LED technology offers a virtually unlimited service life. You can also adjust the lighting level to the brightness you require.Easy observing and detailed viewingThe eyepiece is set at a viewing angle of 45 and the head of the microscope can be rotated by 360, meaning that you will always be able to employ the most comfortable position for observing. The Microstar is extremely versatile, providing magnifications from 20x up to1280x and it is very simple to change the magnification employed during use. The lens turret comes with 4x, 10x and 40x objective lenses. Observing is also particularly enjoyable due to the wide field of view proved by the wide angle eyepieces included.Microscope stage
Your slides are held securely in position on the microscope stage, which includes a vernier scale. The slide being observed can be precisely and sensitively moved around in two axes by the use of knurled screws. The slide can always be correctly positioned, even at high magnifications.Even more contrast
The five different colour filters and sub-stage condenser provided allow you to further increase the contrast in order to make out even more detail.Wide range of accessories includedEverything is already included that you will need for getting started: a digital PC eyepiece for sending images to the computer, image processing software, a Barlow lens for higher magnification, extensive microscopy instruments, microtome, prepared slides, hatchery, shrimp eggs, sea salt, yeast, 10 slides and cover slips, carrying case and power supply.
The advantages in a nutshell:
The Barlow lens comes pre-installed on the focuser. It can be easily unscrewed to remove it.(Bernd Ghrken)For Win 8/10 please go to the download section and download the driver Omegon Microstar Camera Setup. Use this instead of the original drivers supplied in the CD-ROM.(Pedro Pereira)
The next problem that I faced was what kind of mount did I need to fit the c-mount camera into the adapter? Did I need a 1x, 0.5x, 2x or whatever? I had no clue. I ended up looking at some of the Amscope microscope that came with cameras and noticed that most of them came with a 0.5x c-mount adapter. So, I bought one from Ebay.
Everything was fine. I hooked my c-mount camera to my computer via USB and my computer saw the camera as an external camera, similar to any other usb computer camera. I used the camera software that came with my camera called AMCAP and I was finally up and running.
A bonus would be to buy an amscope trinocular microscope with simultaneous focus, so that you can record video and see through both eyeholes at the same time. Without simultaneous focus, you will only be able to see through one eyehole while recording video.
It seems as though the photo port on the simulaneous focus heads are different than the ones without simultaneous focus, so that above solution will not work. I went back and forth with Amscope technical support and the conclusion that we came to is that the triangular prism looking thing that is held in place by three screws in the trinocular port is different.
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Mantis Elite-Cam is a variant of the successful Mantis Elite ergonomic stereo microscope with an internally integrated USB2.0 camera, bringing together outstanding optical performance and effortless image capture.
Patented optical technology of Mantis removes the need for restrictive eyepieces of a conventional microscope, allowing operators freedom of head movement, providing superb ergonomics and hand-eye co-ordination, plus the ability to wear prescription or safety glasses, if required.