4 Spec E software: image editor

The 4 Spec E software provides image-acquisition, handling, editing and storage.

The 4 Spec E software in the image editor mode gives direct access to three images at a time, the active image, the background image and the flat-field image. The active image is the currently handled image where the background image provides the background illumination of the scene and the flat-field image may be used to correct systematic brightness inhomogeneities over the image.

Image acquisition

4 Spec E software enable the intuitive image acquisition or other acquisition in other format like sequence scans or real time series. A Real-time series enables scanning of frames at video rate where the repetition rate varies on the hardware setup of the camera. After acquisition the real-time series can be saved as a whole or selected images can be transferred as active image to perform corrections and store the image individually. Furthermore, a summation of images during one acquisition can be done for signal enhancement or signal to noise improvement. Individual images can be stored either as active or background image. The background and flat field images can also be assigned or loaded from a file.

Image correction and handling

The background and flat-field correction can be automatically performed during the data-acquisition. It suppresses the background signal of the image and may correct the intensity inhomogeneitiys of the used image intensifier, respectively.

Furthermore, basic mathematical operations (+, -, /, *) can be applied either with an image and a constant as operands or with two images applying a pixel by pixel operation. Moreover, the images can be pictured in different color bars and with the vertical and horizontal profile of a user chosen position.

Image storage and export

The images can be most easily saved in the img-file format. This file format provides 32 bit resolution and stores even additional information like applied binning or a chosen region of interest of the image. If the experiment requires a high repetition rate automatic saving can be activated with the img-file format. Each image can be additionally exported into the tiff- or bmp-file format. Moreover, for an easy access of the raw data the RAW-data format enables the storage of an image in 16 bit integer format row by row with no header information.