The shortest possible interval is calculated by performing a blind experiment. The camera exposure time, number of steps of a z-stack and the number of acquisition channels are taken into consideration in the calculation. Depending on the number of z-stacks and channels and whether long exposure times have been set, it may take some time to calculate the shortest time interval.

Use time series to acquire an image series consisting of a number of time points. Define, for example, the acquisition interval, the length of the experiment and other specifications to control the experiment.

Parameter

Description

Duration

Defines the minimum duration of your experiment with the slider or the input field.

The dropdown list defines the number of cycles or the duration:

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Cycles

Defines the duration in number of cycles.

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ms

Defines the duration in milliseconds.

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s

Defines the duration in seconds.

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m

Defines the duration in minutes.

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h

Defines the duration in hours.

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d

Defines the duration in days.

As Long as Possible

Activated: The acquisition of the time series continues as long as possible, depending on the free disk space of the hard disk.

  • For hard disks with more than 20 GB free disk space the acquisition always runs until 2 GB disk space is left.
    Example: An experiment using a hard disk with 250 GB of free disk space will run until 2 GB are left. The calculated/required disk space for the experiment is 248 GB.
  • For hard disks with less than 20 GB free disk space, at least 10% disk space will be always left free.
    Example: An experiment using a hard disk with 15 GB of free disk space will run until 1,5 GB are left. The calculated/required disk space for the experiment is 13,5 GB.

Interval

Defines the interval from individual image to individual image in an image series. You can specify the interval to set the gap between individual time points in milliseconds, minutes, hours or days. For LSM it is possible to change the interval during time series acquisition with the parameter Interval Time.

Acquire with High Speed

Only visible for Lightfield 4D acquisition.
Activated: Acquires the image with high speed. In this mode, the images from the camera are directly streamed to the hard drive (SSD) of the computer for maximal acquisition speed. This option is automatically activated by default after setting up Lightfield 4D channels if all channels are using the same filter position in the reflector changer. If you have defined two or more Lightfield 4D tracks, the exposure time for each channel is set the same. Updating the exposure time of one channel updates it for all defined Lightfield 4D channels. Note that Interval gets disabled.

Calculated Volume Rate

Only visible for Lightfield 4D acquisition.
Displays the volume rate which is calculated based on the exposure time. The maximum possible value for a time series with one channel is 80 vps. In case you have defined multiple channels, the volume rate is divided among the individual channels.

The following parameters are only visible if Show All is activated:

Use Camera Streaming if Possible

Only visible in Camera/Widefield Mode.
Activated: The software tries to use the free running/streaming mode of the active camera.

Use Burst Mode if Possible

Only visible in Camera/Widefield Mode.
Activated: The system buffers acquisition data in the main memory. For more information, see Burst Mode.

Measure Speed

Not available for LSM acquisition.
Checks whether the experiment can be performed using the interval which is set. If the interval is too small, the shortest possible value is defined automatically for the interval.

Start/Start Next Time Slice/Stop/Pause Begin/Pause End

Defines the Start, Stop and Pause conditions of your experiment. Select the parameters for the corresponding condition from the Mode dropdown list.

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Manual

The experiment starts immediately when clicking Start Experiment in the Experiment Manager.

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At Time of Day

The experiment is started, stopped or paused at the entered time. Enter the desired time in the spin box/input field below the dropdown list.

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After Delay

The experiment is only started, stopped or paused once the length of time entered has passed.

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On Trigger

The experiment is started, stopped or paused once a TTL signal has been received.

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After Cycles

Only available for Pause Begin.
The experiment is paused after the defined number of cycles. If this function is used for a LSM time series, the acquisition will no longer be executed by the real time electronics and will be markedly slower overall.

Interval Time

Only available for LSM.
Interactively changes the interval during a running time series acquisition.

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Interval

Displays the interval value which is taken over from the current set interval.

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Trigger In

Assigns a TriggerIN signal to change the interval.

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Trigger Out

Assigns a TriggerOUT signal for each interval change.

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Add

Adds a new interval.

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Delete

Deletes the selected interval.

Set Marker

Only available for LSM.
Marks events during the time series acquisition.

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Description

Sets the name of the marker.

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Set

Sets a marker during time series acquisition.

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Trigger In

Selects the TriggerIn signal for setting a marker.

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Trigger Out

If necessary, assign a TriggerOUT signal for every set marker.
Note that the TriggerOut signal for the marker function consists of a high spike followed by a 3 second long TTL pulse. Within the duration of the pulse a further low spike is delivered.

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Add

Adds a new marker.

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Delete

Deletes the selected marker.

Interactive Switches

Adds and configures switches that can be used to execute certain actions during your experiment. To add a new switch, click .

The Switch button opens a dialog to configure an interactive switch, see Interactive Switches Section.