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. The digital images are unretouched and were captured with the QX3 interactive software.

These mature sporophytes are the asexual reproductive form for the Marchantia order of Bryophytes, mosslike plants of the division Bryophyta, also known as liverworts, or "liver plants." The thallus, part of the plants' anatomy, has the appearance of a lobed liver, which gave rise to the name. Bryophytes are ancient plants and have a worldwide distribution, but most commonly are found in the tropics. Liverworts don't contribute directly to the human economy, but do provide food for animals, facilitate the decay of fallen trees, and help disintegrate rocks.

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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