Digital Microscopy
Recent technological developments led to the appearance of digital microscopy (see Digital Microscope AD4113T, 3 Colour Digital Microscope AD4113T-I2V, and 3-D Microscope VHX-5000), which directly captures the images. Digital Microscopy is an optical inspection system, where the collected image is displayed directly on a computer screen. Thus, the concept and construction of the microscope is different from a binocular-based microscope. The advantage of a digital microscope is the possibility to take measurements directly on the object, without the need for destructive sampling, which makes the method useful for studying heritage objects. Digital microscopes provide primarily speed and convenience, as with digital cameras they can produce very high-quality images limited only by the optical system of a particular tool. 3D Digital Microscopy offers fast 2D and 3D measurements, a larger depth of field and working distance than a traditional optical microscope, a very large range of magnification which can go from macro to micro, and many illumination techniques (including polarisation, transmission light, fluorescence). Another advantage is its unique flexibility – as the optical system can be attached to any support, enabling contact inspection of for example paper surface (interaction of paper and ink) or non-contact inspection of an entire written artefact of any shape at high resolution.