Requirements

What are the drivers for choosing a particular camera?

1. How bright is the light being imaged?
   1. How strong is the signal and how high are the noise levels (S/N ratio)?
   2. Low light levels demand
      1. Long exposures
      2. High Sensitivity
      3. Low noise in the image
   3. Higher noise makes differentiation of signal from background more difficult
   4. What are the sources of noise in the image?
2. What are the speed requirements for the application?
   1. Long exposures reduce speed
   2. Slow readout of the sensor reduces speed
   3. Rate of change in the image (e.g. muscle contraction) demands higher acquisition rate
   4. Inclusion of a scanning stage slows image acquisition
3. What spectral range is of interest in the image?
   1. UV?
   2. VIS?
   3. NIR?
4. What spatial resolution does the application require?
   1. How large is the desired FOV?
   2. How small are the smallest features in the image?
   3. How many pixels are necessary to record the desired FOV and to sample the smallest particles at a number of pixels 2X the smallest feature size?

Solutions

• Conversion of Light to Electrons
• Sources of Noise
• Speed Requirements
  • High Content Analysis is a good example
• Spectral Range
  • Detection in the UV is difficult and typically requires a special sensor
• Spectral Requirements
• QX Options for NIR Inspection/Sensitivity
• Sampling Frequency
• Impact of Cooling
• Camera Gain
• Camera Linearity