64-bit Data Acquisition Software

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The Power of Revolutionary Thinking

This software is different.

Princeton Instruments LightField is a new 64-bit image and spectral acquisition software package that provides a cutting-edge user interface and the powerful functionality needed to set up and perform complex optical diagnostic experiments. This unique and revolutionary tool lets researchers around the world realize the true potential of their advanced Princeton Instruments low-light-level cameras and spectrographs.

Download a FREE evaluation version.

The best way to experience the real advantage of this software is through the full-feature evaluation version available for download at:
www.princetoninstruments.com/lightfield

LightField 64-bit Data Acquisition Software

Princeton Instruments has pioneered stateof-the-art technology and instrumentation for more than three decades, including: eXcelon technology for minimizing etaloning and improving sensitivity No-compromise ProEM EMCCD cameras with single-photon-detection capabilities Faster, smarter PI-MAX 3 ICCD cameras that offer <500 picosecond gating InGaAs-sensor-based cameras for NIR imaging and spectroscopy up to 2.2 m Now, with the introduction of LightField, as well as the amazing IntelliCal calibration option, Princeton Instruments has successfully redefined the very nature of scientific imaging and spectroscopy software.

From the world leader in low-light imaging, spectroscopy, and x-ray detection...

LightField is an integral part of the best all-around hardware/software solutions on the market today!

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LightField 64-bit Data Acquisition Software

2011 P rinceton Instruments.

Version 4.0

www.princetoninstruments.com

Time for a change!

Whether analyzing properties of nanomaterials or observing celestial objects, researchers require the best optical diagnostic tools. While state-of-the-art hardware can deliver single-photon sensitivity, associated software tools leave much to be desired. Too often, a researchers early enthusiasm for their new hardware quickly wanes as the poor design and inherent limitations of the accompanying software become apparent. But now theres LightField. Say farewell to disappointment and frustration. The excitement is here to stay!

Weve raised the bar!

At the beginning of the LightField design project, Princeton Instruments had a fundamental choice to make. We could either simply update an existing software package, like most companies do, or we could create software entirely from the ground up, based on more than 30 years of application experience and feedback from the worlds leading laboratories. We chose the latter approach. The result is nothing less than remarkable!

Its all about the data!

LightFields power derives from its simple but surprisingly novel guiding principle: Provide researchers with reliable data as quickly as possible. In seeking to fulfill this promise, the Princeton Instruments software team created a brand new user interface, brand new calibration methods, and even brand new concepts. There is no comparable software available for the typical laboratory environment!

LightField 64-bit Data Acquisition Software

Two Standout Capabilities

PI-MAX 3 ICCD Camera Support

What you see is truly what you get!

Princeton Instruments PI-MAX 3 ICCD cameras can measure events with ultrafine temporal resolution in imaging and spectroscopy experiments via: A SuperSynchro timing generator <500 picosecond gate widths (exposure times) Whenever a compatible PI-MAX 3 camera is connected, LightField displays a highly intuitive virtual dashboard akin to a laboratory oscilloscope so that you can: Adjust the gate delay, width, SyncMaster, and auxiliary delays on-the-fly Easily synchronize your PI-MAX 3 camera with external lasers Quickly plot time vs. intensity graphs via a single click

LightField provides complete timing control for compatible PI-MAX 3 cameras.

Introducing IntelliCal
Automated wavelength and intensity calibration!
Publish with absolute confidence. For the first time, the spectral response of all elements in the detection path, including that of the grating and the camera, has been taken into account. LightFields optional IntelliCal feature lets you firmly and immediately establish the accuracy of your spectroscopic data on a pixel-by-pixel basis: Calibrate the entire spectrum in both the wavelength and intensity scales against the NIST database Rely on patent-pending technology that delivers up to 10x better accuracy than standard calibration To learn more about this revolutionary new feature, download our IntelliCal technical notes at www.princetoninstruments.com/lightfield.

LightField offers patent-pending IntelliCal for accurate spectrum calibration in both the wavelength and intensity spaces! Data using standard spectral calibration (left); same data utilizing LightFields IntelliCal wavelength and intensity calibration (right).

LightField 64-bit Data Acquisition Software

Drag and Drop Devices

Yes, simply drag and drop to create your experiment configuration. For spectroscopy, control the light path by directly clicking the mirrors!

A Virtual Oscilloscope

A special dashboard appears whenever a compatible PI-MAX 3 ICCD camera is connected. Take complete control of gate delays, widths, and trigger input/output signals!

LightField provides hundreds of incredible features!

Here are just a few of our favorites...

The Best Bar

View the status of hardware and acquisition settings at a glance!

Gray Is Great

LightFields muted gray background minimizes interference with light-sensitive experiments. If complete darkness is required, LightField can simply turn off monitors during acquisition.

LightField 64-bit Data Acquisition Software Princeton Instruments LightField 64-bit Acqusiition software

Want a better look? Use the Image Histogram function to adjust image contrast.

All Shall Be Revealed

Images Everywhere

Go ahead and work on multiple display monitors! A single image or an entire data viewer can be relocated to a secondary monitor.

LightField allows you to compare live and previously acquired data quickly!
The Online Statistics window gives you a quick overview of key measurements.

See the Stats

LightField 64-bit Data Acquisition Software Princeton Instruments LightField 64-bit Acqusiition software

Features

TOP 10

1.

Get up and go!

2.
LightField is smart. Just connect the hardware, launch LightField, and youre ready to start capturing data. Its that simple! LightField detects attached hardware and sets up intelligent defaults for you.

Peace of mind...

We know how important your data is! LightField automatically saves every acquisition to your desired folder and keeps track of all experiment settings in the file header. It even saves your raw data when a post-processing feature is applied.

3.

It knows you...
In many labs, Princeton Instruments cameras and spectrographs are used by multiple researchers. LightField provides an easy experiment setup save/load function that quickly loads your experiment settings for you.

4.

Streams of data...

Need to capture data over an extended period of time? Thanks to its native 64-bit architecture, LightField is not only able to utilize all the memory (RAM) available on your computer, it can stream multi-gigabyte pixel data directly into the hard drive, all without missing a beat.

LightField 64-bit Data Acquisition Software

5.

Unite!

Multi-camera control, multi-spectrograph control. LightField controls each of the Princeton Instruments cameras and spectrographs in your lab from a single computer.

6.

Simpler spectrograph alignment...

LightFields ROI and Peak Find features help you align your camera on your spectrograph more quickly than ever before. Go from out-ofthe-box to spectral acquisition in minutes!

Features

TOP 10

7.

Whats new with Step & Glue?

Traditional approaches can be plagued by a host of spectral artifacts. Our Intensity Calibration routine automatically corrects these artifacts, delivering a spectrum free of instrumental bias. For the first time, high resolution and a broad spectral range can be achieved simultaneously with no compromises!

8.

Its all about timing!

Every frame (or sub-frame in kinetics readout mode) is automatically hardware time stamped with 1 sec accuracy and stored in the file data. Simply perform a cross-section analysis on a sequence of frames to quickly gain insight into the temporal nature of your data.

LightField 64-bit Data Acquisition Software

Features

TOP 10

9.

Search and decide.

Cameras and spectrographs can have a multitude of settings, but only a few are used routinely. LightFields smart search function quickly directs you to the controls you want, as you type. You can even build your own custom settings dock to access frequently used settings!

10.

Powerful, yet easy!

No marketing hyperbole here. LightField allows complete control over supported Princeton Instruments cameras and spectrographs. All available readout modes, such as frame transfer, kinetics, spectrakinetics (microsecond time resolution), and custom chip (>10 kHz frame rates), are supported.

Make it your own!

Customize, customize, customize...
Fancy your own user interface or post-processing tools? Need to integrate LightField with other software packages? No problem. LightField has powerful add-ins and automation features built-in so that you can get what you really want. All you need is familiarity with programming languages. We even provide more than 20 examples of add-in programs to get you started!

Add-ins: These are user-written utilities or tools that customize the LightField experience. For example, you can modify/add toolbars and tabs, add post-processing or real-time functions (e.g., filters), or change display types. Automation: You can run LightField from a third-party software program either in the background
or the foreground. This is a convenient way to automate routine tasks from familiar programs.

Software SDK: For OEMs and system integrators, a comprehensive PICAM application

programming interface (API) is provided for free. Programmers will love the example programs with source code that we have included in the software development kit (SDK).

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LightField 64-bit Data Acquisition Software

Key Features List

Acquisition & Control Supported cameras: PIXIS, PI-MAX 3*, ProEM, PyLoN, Quad-RO Supported spectrographs: Acton Series spectrographs, including LS785 Multiple-camera & multiple-spectrograph control (with separate instances) Single-frame & sequence acquisition Direct stream to disk: multi-gigabyte data Multiple regions of interest (ROI) Live-frame accumulation/averaging Kinetics, spectra-kinetics, custom sensor modes (if applicable) Auto-dim monitor & auto-orientation for spectra and images Time stamping: track exposure start/end time & frame number SuperSynchro timing control Gate tracking: track/store gate delay & width with each frame Live statistics: min, max, standard deviation, center of mass Trigger & camera/spectrograph shutter controls Demo mode: simulate the performance of any supported Princeton Instruments camera View One-click quick view after acquisition Compare live & previously acquired data Spectral overlay Live auto-scale Zoom & pan controls Live X & Y cross-sections Full-screen mode Multiple-monitor support Option to turn off display during long acquisitions Separate desk copy for offline viewing/processing of data Playback/review with time stamp & gate tracking information

Spectral Calibration

IntelliCal**: automated point-by-point intensity & wavelength calibration (up to 10x more accurate than standard calibration) Standard calibration: wavelength space calibration X-axis calibration in wavelength (nm) & wavenumbers (cm-1) USB-powered, NIST-traceable calibration sources Spectrograph alignment helper Step & Glue: broad wavelength range Peak Find Auto-expose

PostProcessing

Background, flatfield correction Change image/spectral orientation Software binning Frame combining Cross-sections: X, Y & frame cross-sections (automatic time vs. intensity plot generation) Extract data: select ROI & frame range

User Interface

Visual status indicators: experiment progress, background/flatfield correction on, image orientation, intensifier on/off, experiment error Custom settings dock: drag most often used settings into a separate dock Settings search: highlights relevant settings as you type Save & load multiple-user experiment settings Keyboard shortcuts Timing dashboard: visual intensifier gate timing control for PI-MAX 3 ICCD cameras

Extensions & Custom Programming

Add-ins: customize LightField interface/operation with custom buttons, tabs, etc. from within LightField Automation: control LightField from third-party programs (e.g., Microsoft Visual Basic, National Instruments LabVIEW, MathWorks MATLAB) PICAM API: create custom acquisition programs from the ground up

Help & Updates

File Formats

Acquisition in Princeton Instruments SPE 3.0 format SPE file header contains complete experiment information (can be viewed in XML format) Export data to TIF (16 bits), SPC, FITS, CSV (ASCII) formats Automatically save raw & corrected file data Copy/paste image & spectral data directly into supported Microsoft Windows programs (e.g., Notepad, Word, Excel)

Online help (F1) & PDF manual included Online software updates Field firmware updates for cameras (when available)

* A factory upgrade may be necessary to enable LightField compatibility for certain PI-MAX 3 cameras. ** IntelliCal is an optional LightField feature.

LightField 64-bit Data Acquisition Software Princeton Instruments LightField 64-bit Acqusiition software

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Computer System Requirements

Supported Operating Systems: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional & Ultimate 64 bits Minimum Requirements: 2 GHz dual-core processor 4 GB of RAM 2 GB of available hard-disk space required for installation; additional hard-drive space required for data acquisition/storage DVD drive One or more of the following interface ports: - USB 2.0 (for PIXIS, spectrographs, IntelliCal light sources) - IEEE-1394a (for Quad-RO) - GigE (for ProEM, PI-MAX 3, PyLoN) Specifications are subject to change. Please contact Princeton Instruments or your local Princeton Instruments representative for the latest information pertaining to LightField.

www.princetoninstruments.com | info@princetoninstruments.com TOLL-FREE +1.877.474.2286 | USA +1.609.587.9797

Copyright 2011 Princeton Instruments, Inc. All rights reserved. Excel, Microsoft, Visual Basic, Windows, and Word are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other brand and product names are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners and manufacturers.

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