New Quartz PCI System/Version 4 Features Heightened Performance and Functionality for Image Capture and Management

The New Quartz PCI System/Version 4.2 offered by Nissei Sangyo America is now a full 32-bit application for Windows 95 or Windows NT. This permits users to capture and mange digital images from diverse devices-SEMs, STEMs, TEMs, light microscopes, video sources, TWAIN devices and CD SEMs-using a single family of software.

Version 4.2 has numerous enhancements. An angle measurement tool has been address and the other measurement functions improved and made easier to use. Color image support is vastly improved with tools that adjust image color, balance, hue, saturation and lightness. Also, image thumbnails are now displayed in color.

In addition, there's an improved histogram function that allows interactive adjustment of image contrast, brightness and gamma, a new "Send To" function which permits the transfer of documents directing from other applications to the PCI database for storage and retrieval in the same manner as images, and a Process Stereo command function that provides for stereo-pair alignment.

To help users cope with large volumes of images and the demands of growing organizations, Quartz PCI provides a scalable family of ODBC-compliant database solutions including the Workgroup Database for facilities of up 25 users: and the Enterprise Database, which supports thousands of users. The system's Intranet Image Server permits querying and retrieving images via standard Web browser and for off-line storage, PCI provides built-in support for removable media such as CD-ROMs or magneto-optical disks.

New Quartz PCI options include a special acquisition package for CD-SEMs and an improved RGB/NTSC/PAL capture function for operating the display in high-resolution modes with true 24-bit color. The Advanced Acquisition Option permits SEM images to be acquired from two channels (SE and BSE detectors) simultaneously, allows for those signals to be mixed in real time, and conducts such operations as 12-bit acquisition, frame averaging and integration.

With the new "plug-in" interface, programmers now have direct access to PCI's image data and image notes, because custom commands for calling routines in user-provided DLLs can now be added to PCI menus. Also, an Asian version of Quartz PCI lets users enter database information in Chinese, Japanese and Korean.