Quartz PCI is the preferred image acquisition and archiving solution of thousands of researchers around the world. Running on Windows® NT®, 2000, XP or Vista™, PCI helps you manage all aspects of the imaging process including acquisition, annotation, archiving and retrieval.

Specialized modules are available for acquisition from SEMs, STEMs, TEMs, light microscopes, video sources, TWAIN devices and CD SEMs.

SEM

PCI is the standard against which all other digital imaging systems for SEMs are judged. PCI was the first commercial system to offer passive capture of high resolution SEM scans. The benefits of passive capture are now widely recognized. All microscope controls remain fully operational even while acquiring an image. The micron marker and other data are automatically acquired with the image. And, full advantage is taken of the instrument's own filtering and scan generation electronics. The captured image is identical to the film output of the instrument.

PCI can match the resolution of your microscope's scan generator. Image size is continuously variable up to the maximum size supported by the microscope. PCI can be programmed to match your microscope's aspect exactly, ensuring that pixels are square for accurate measurements.

PCI's Advanced Acquisition option lets you acquire images up to 12 bits deep from two channels, such as SE and BSE, simultaneously. Each channel can be independently summed or frame averaged and the two channels can be mixed in real-time.

Hitachi PC-SEM

Special versions of PCI come with the new generation of Hitachi PC-based SEMs. This software permits transferring of images directly from the microscope software into PCI.

AMT

PCI/AMT permits transferring of images directly from the AMT osftware into PCI.

Light Microscope

Video and digital still camera support permit straightforward image capture from light microscopes.

Video

Color or monochrome images can be captured from any video source. PCI displays a live video window on the computer display for easy focusing and adjustment of the image.

Digital Still Cameras/Scanners

PCI supports the popular TWAIN standard so that images can be acquired from most scanners and digital still cameras.

CD/SEM

Data acquisition from recent model Hitachi CDSEMs is carried out with PCI CD Manager . Images can be captured from the video output, even nonstandard video, of other instruments.

Direct to Digital Instruments

Software is available to facilitate the transfer of images from instruments, both Windows®-based and non-Windows®-based that produce digital images directly, such as AFMs, PC-based SEMs, FIBs, acoustic microscopes etc., into the PCI database and image manipulation software.

Once the images are acquired, PCI provides a complete set of processing and display functions including image zooming, pseudo-coloring, brightness, contrast and gamma adjustment, color correction, smoothing, sharpening etc. Anaglyph stereo images can be constructed and aligned. PCI can even be extended with custom processing and analysis functions by taking advantage of its "plug-in" interface for programmers. Images can be annotated with PCI's drawing tools, which operate on a separate "overlay layer". You can move or edit the overlay elements at any time without affecting the image underneath. Tools are included for length, area and angle measurement.

PCI includes powerful tools to help you access and manage your images intuitively and to turn those images into usable information. Quartz Imaging's scalable family of high-performance database solutions can help a single microscopist keep track of hundreds of images or help an entire organization keep track of millions of them.

Workgroup Database

The Workgroup Database is included with every copy of PCI. Designed for facilities with up to approximately 10 users, the Workgroup Database provides a simple, yet powerful, introduction to image database systems.

Enterprise Database

Based on your choice of either Oracle® or Microsoft® SQL ServerT, PCI's Enterprise Database supports thousands of users, millions of records and hundreds of gigabytes of data in a Client/Server environment.

Intranet Image Server

Quartz Imaging's Intranet Image Server allows anyone connected to the network to perform queries and retrieve images and other documents from the PCI database using a standard Web browser such as Netscape Navigator® or Microsoft® Internet Explorer. 

In addition to acquiring your images, PCI lets you view and annotate x-ray spectra, both at the instrument and at your office workstations. Data from the Quartz XOne x-ray microanalysis system can be read directly and data from other vendor's equipment can be imported via the EMSA format. Tools are provided to identify elements, label peaks and add other annotations. Spectra can be exported as images anad copied via the clipboard into other software packages.

PCI includes a full-featured report layout tool. After you have acquired your images, or even while you are acquiring them, PCI makes it easy to produce polished, professional reports.

PCI database fields can be placed on the report and automatically filled with database information pertaining to the associated image. The same tools that are available for annotating images are available for adding annotations to the report. Master pages and templates facilitate the development of standard reports for your organization, incorporating elements such as corporate logos.

Finished reports can be exported in the popular PDF file format for easy distribution to your collegues and clients.

Once you've acquired your images, you want to get your data into the hands of decision-makers as quickly and efficiently as possible. PCI's comprehensive support for networks means that your data can be made available to clients and colleagues instantly.