Signal-to-Noise Visualization Mode

Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) visualization helps assess image quality in real time. It is useful for microscope alignment and low-signal workflows.

Future releases will support direct acquisition of offset/variance maps from within navigate. For now, generate these maps with camera-vendor software or custom scripts.

Acquiring Offset And Variance Maps

As a guideline, acquire data for offset/variance maps using an exposure time similar to your imaging workflow.

1. Capture dark frames. Block incoming light and capture a stack of dark frames (for example, 1000 frames).

2. Calculate the offset map. Compute the minimum across dark frames.

3. Calculate the variance map. Compute the variance across dark frames.

4. Save both maps. Save offset/variance images as TIFF files in a camera_maps folder under the navigate home directory.

   • Windows: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\.navigate\camera_maps\

   • macOS/Linux: ~/.navigate/camera_maps/

   • Filenames: <camera_serial_number>_off.tiff and <camera_serial_number>_var.tiff

5. Launch navigate. On startup, navigate detects available maps in the configured directory and exposes SNR visualization options for that camera.