The images below compare performance of the Intel Play QX3 Computer Microscope with and without the aid of an organized cone of illumination from a substage condenser containing an aperture diaphragm. These photomicrographs are high magnifications of a diatom mixture. The digital images are unretouched and were captured with the QX3 interactive software.

Diatoms are single-celled algae of the phylum Bacillariophyta and are found in all the Earth's oceans. One of the most prolific sea organisms, the nearly 16,000 species of this group form a significant portion of the aquatic food chain. Diatom cell walls are composed of silica fashioned into a myriad of beautiful geometrical shapes and patterns. Diatomaceous earth, a substance composed of fossil diatoms, is used for making filters, insulation, abrasives, paints, and varnishes.

Semi-transparent and lightly stained specimens are often very difficult to image using unaided brightfield optical microscopy. The images presented here were recorded using the Intel Play QX3 microscope in transmitted brightfield mode. On the top is a digital image from a stock QX3 microscope using either auxiliary illumination provided by a fiber optic light pipe through a hole drilled into the mixing chamber, or standard illumination from the microscope's tungsten lamp and mixing chamber. The image on the bottom was recorded using the QX3 microscope body coupled to a simple two-lens Abbe low numerical aperture substage condenser. Illumination was provided by a 30 watt tungsten bulb housed in an illuminator with a heat sink, a frosted diffusion screen, and a daylight color-compensating filter.

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