Many of the advantages of a digital
microscope are related just to the digital output itself. For one, since
the image is presented on a monitor everyone sees the same thing at the
same time. No more trying to describe the small defect in the upper left corner
of the field of view or hoping that the next person looking through the
microscope is not just seeing their eyelashes. The image can be immediately
processed, captured, stored, measured and reviewed. The processing can not
only enhance the image quality but can also do such things as extend the
Depth of Field (DoF - the amount of the
depth in the image that is in sharp focus) by blending in focus information
from several image planes. But there are other advantages that come from
the design directly. One notable quality of some of the lenses is their
unusually large DoF. The DoF
is several times that of a conventional or stereomicroscope at the same
magnification - often millimeters rather than micrometers! Other advantages
include unique lighting regimes and observational capabilities like dynamic
oblique viewing not available in conventional microscope even if they have
video capabilities.
