GIGAmacro Picture of the Month

To those of us of a certain age this month’s image resonates on all sorts of levels.  As always, there is a story! We were at SIGGRAPH last month and the brief for the week was to make very high resolution images of microtextures.  All was proceeding well until the network engineer produced a 1K bit (yes bit), ferrite core memory module from an Apollo Guidance Computer. Of course, all work on textures stopped until we had finished imaging the memory board. It was an outstanding shiny thing and an engineering wonder.
Thanks to Joe Cychosz for the loan of such a fabulous artifact.

Meyer Instruments, Inc. is an authorized dealer-reseller of GIGAmacro products.
Meyer Instruments, Inc. is an authorized dealer-reseller of GIGAmacro products.

The image is 7.76 Gigapixels, and  87,352 pixels by 88,846 pixels – that’s how we can make such a big print with incredible detail, as we only need 360 pixels per inch resolution for our wide format printer.  Joe will shortly have a 44″ print as a thank you for trusting us with his device.

To think that this (along with a sister board, 2K Bits in total)  is what took men to walk on the moon.

Learn more about this fascinating imagery and how it is made.  Contact Meyer Instruments, Inc., (281) 579-0342 or visit their website at https://meyerinst.com.

Meyer Instruments, Inc. is an authorized dealer reseller of GIGAmacro products.

GIGAmacro Product Updates at Meyer Instruments

Product Updates from GIGAmacro.

First of all, the GIGAmacro Viewer: we know that a number of you are anxiously awaiting the new viewer and we are a touch behind on that.  We have decided to split the product into 2 releases, one of which has the main viewer functionality, the second release will have the authorization and authentication so that multiple users can annotate and comment.  We are planning on February for the first, and hopefully March for the second.

Templates: the system at California Academy is working well!  So far we have templates for entomology, thin geological slides, and microscope slides in use on various Magnify2 systems. We can ship the hardware to you during the first quarter with the software to simplify template building coming a little later.

We have a lot of exciting developments planned for this year including a new version of Capture and an all new workflow management system.  Keep your eyes peeled, and remember that if you have a maintenance and support agreement in place, all updates will come to you automatically.

GIGAmacro Magnify and GIGAmacro Viewer are available from Meyer Instruments in Houston, Texas.

GIGAmacro Template System

New Template System available in January 2015
The prototype imaging table is now installed on the California Academy of Sciences Magnify2 system.

The scanning table is made from cast acrylic and this will be in a fixed position on the rig (not movable on bumpers as the current glass table is).  This is achieved by locating an additional piece on the front rail using the existing bolts. Fitting the new locating buffer is a 15 minute job on all Magnify2 systems.

With the scanning table fixed, the pins on the left and right of the imaging table are used to locate a template that places the specimen holders precisely in a vertical or horizontal position. In the CalAcademy system, there are 11 holders per row, and up to 4 template holders can be located at once, allowing 44 specimens to be imaged in a single job.


Above you can see a template with four thin geological specimens.
Templates will be available for many different imaging jobs: traditional microscope slides, thin geological sections, insect holders of various sizes or custom made for your specific needs.  Call Meyer Instruments for more information on customizing for your application.

Also a grid and / or diffuser can be placed above the imaging table and below the template holder.  The diffuser will be most useful when the specimen is to be backlit with the (optional) backflash, such as when imaging thin geological slides or microscope slides.