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====Static Image Acquisition:====
Static image acquisition is the most common form. Almost all microscopes can be easily adapted to accept a digital camera via a [[C mount]] adaptor. This type of set-up is often referred to as a [[digital microscope]], although many systems using that name are used only for displaying an image on a [[Video monitor#video display|monitor]].
The sample is prepared on a microscope slide which is placed on the [[Optical microscope#stage|microscope stage]]. Once the sample has been focused on, then an image can be acquired and displayed on the monitor. If it is a [[digital camera]] or a [[frame grabber]] is present, the image can now be saved in digital format, and image processing algorithms can be used to isolate particles in the field of view and measure them.
In static image acquisition only one image is captured at a time. If the user wishes to image other portions of the same sample on the slide, they can use the X-Y positioning hardware (typically composed of two [[linear stage|linear stages]] on the microscope to move to a different area of the slide. Care must be taken to insure that two images do not overlap so as not to count and measure the same particles more than once.
The major drawback to static image acquisition is that it is time consuming, both in sample preparation (getting the sample onto the slide with proper dilution if necessary), and in multiple movements of the stage in order to be able to acquire a statistically significant number of particles to count/measure. Computer-controlled X-Y positioning stages are sometimes used in these systems to speed the process up and to reduce the amount of operator intervention, but it is still a time consuming process, and the motorized stages can be expensive due to the level of precision required when working at high magnification.
====Dynamic Image Acquisition:====
In Dynamic image acquisition, large amounts of sample are imaged by moving the sample past the microscope optics and using [[flash (photography)#high speed flash|high speed flash]] illumination to effectively "freeze" the motion of the sample. The flash is [[synchronization|synchroized]] with a high [[shutter speed]] in the camera to further prevent motion blur.
== References ==
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