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Semi-Technical
Overview
Video Capture
Tutorial
Videoconference
Tutorial
Videoconference
Phone Book
Olympus
Digital Camera
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Topics Covered in This Section
Running the ComputerEyes software
To run the software, open the Start menu, and under the Programs item there should be a group called ComputerEyes (or something similar). Select this group and run the ComputerEyes_PCI item.
If you cannot find anything similar under the Start menu,
you can also try using the Explorer to navigate to C:Program FilesDigital VisionComputerEyes
PCI to see
if the application (called Wepci.exe) is there. If so, you might consider making a shortcut to the program on the
desktop if you plan on using it very often. Finally, if all else fails, try using the Find utility
to search for "ComputerEyes" and see if it returns the application.
If everything is working correctly, you should see the ComputerEyes window come up, and the image that the camera is sending to the computer should be visible in the window (see figure below). If the program doesn't run correctly, or if you don't see an image, check the troubleshooting section for tips.
Adjusting the image parameters
Focus and Framing
The image focus is entirely mechanical in nature. That is, after you have framed the item(s) to be captured in the ComputerEyes window by moving them and/or the camera, adjust the focus by turning the flared "collar" around the camera's lens until the image appears sharp in the preview window.
Light and Color Balance
The software automatically adjusts the light and color balance in the image when you first
run it. This will usually be sufficient for ensuring a good quality image, but
changes in lighting, specimen position, or changing to a different specimen with
significantly different coloration may demand that you readjust the calibration.
To do this, set up the image as far as framing and focus are concerned, select
Show BCHS (BCHS stands for Brightness, Contrast, Hue, Saturation) from the Options menu and click on the Autocal button. You can
also manipulate various parameters manually in this dialog if you have a specific
effect in mind. In any case, you can always click
the Defaults button to undo the effects of any experimenting you might have done.
When you are finished adjusting the BCHS parameters, you can dismiss the dialog by either clicking on the close box or by selecting Hide BCHS from the Options menu.
Image Size
There are actually two separate issues here: the size of the preview window on your screen, and the size of the image that will be captured. Both are controlled from under the Image menu, with the Preview Size and Capture Size, respectively. Changing the size of the preview window only affects the window that you see while setting up the image. The size of the actual image file that you will eventually be mailing is controlled by adjusting the size of the capture image. In most cases, these should probably be the same, so you can see exactly what you'll be sending someone.For a reference point, the various sizes listed are Width x Height, both in pixels, with a standard VGA display being 640x480. Keep in mind that the amount of disk space needed to store the image and the amount of time needed to send it over the Internet are both proportional to the number of pixels. That is, a 640x480 image will be take four times more disk space than the same image at 320x240. Basically, use the smallest image that still shows the important details clearly.
Capturing an image
Now that you have your image framed and set up to your liking, it's time to capture the
image so you can save it and/or transmit it to someone else. When everything in the preview
window is how you want it, click once on the Capture button. It may not be clear what has
happened here, but you have frozen the image at the instant you clicked the button, which
you can confirm by moving your hand in front of the lens. You will also notice that the
button that was formerly greyed-out and marked Palletize is now active, and says Preview.
If you don't like the image you have captured, click on Preview to return to the active
preview mode so you can adjust whatever parameters were not satisfactory.
Otherwise, you can save the captured image to disk for later study or to be e-mailed to someone else. To do this, select Save As... from the File menu. When the file dialog comes up, navigate to the location where you wish to save the image (if necessary). Type a name for the file in the name field, and then click on the drop-down menu marked Save File as Type, and select JPEG Compressed. If everything looks correct, click Save and your image will be stored on the disk.
For the curious, JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, and is a method of image compression designed especially for photographic images. It provides very high compression ratios while retaining good image quality. Without such compression, a full screen color video capture would take well over a megabyte of disk space!
You can repeat this process for as many images as you like, as long as you choose a distinct name for each one. When you are finished capturing images and would like to send them over the Internet, go on to the section on mailing images.
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