MiScope-MP (megapixel)

The digital microscope that fits in the palm of your hand

USB 2.0 Microscope with drivers

and software for
Microsoft Windows Computers
Works with laptop computers too

revision 1B

System Requirements: Pentium IV 1.0 GHz or faster, Windows 2000/XP,

Internet Explorer 5.0 (or later) installed, USB 2.0 Port, 128 MB of Free
Memory, Video card with 16 MB of video RAM, minimum 800 x 600
resolution at 16-bit color (see inside for additional operating system requirements)

12 Ridge Road, Randolph, NJ 07869 USA

Phone: 973-989-2673 Fax: 973-989-2674
[email protected] www.zarbeco.com
0
 What is the MiScope?

The MiScope is a handheld digital microscope. It doesn’t have an

eyepiece so you don’t look into it. Instead, the MiScope connects to
your computer through its USB port. You see the image from the
MiScope right on your computer screen. Anything you see can be
captured and stored on your computer. What can you look at with
the MiScope? How about bugs, plants, coins, stamps, jewelry,
collectable cards, the small print on prescription bottles. There is no
end to uses for your MiScope.

The MiScope let you view objects at 40 – 140X magnification. The single slider controls
both magnification and focus at once. The compact design with built-in lighting means
there are no extra parts to lose or to leave behind. And because the MiScope works with
a laptop computer, you can take it anywhere you want to get a close up view. Take it into
the backyard or out to that antique dealer.

With the MiScope, you don’t just see, you also record. Save still images or movies with
labels and markers that you place right on the live picture. You can even draw on the
picture to point out the important features. Then print or e-mail that picture or add it to a
report.

Automatically Installing the MiScope Software

The MiScope-MP comes with an automatic installer program to install the drivers. This is the
fastest and easiest way to install the drivers for the digital microscope. If this installation process
fails, skip down to the section on Manually Installing the MiScope Software.

On some networked computers, it is necessary to be logged in as the administrator or as a user

with administrator privileges. If you computer is connected to a corporate network, contact your
network administrator to make sure your user account is setup to install driver software. If you
are installing the software on your personal computer, then this is not an issue.

Instructions

1. To install the software insert the CD into your computer’s CD-ROM drive.

2. Open the “My Computer” window and double-click on the CD-ROM icon.

3. Double-click on the Install MiScopeMP Drivers.exe to run the automatic installer for the
drivers. The installer will load all the drivers onto your computer.

Install MiScopeMP Drivers.exe

1
4. Plug the USB cable into the side of the MiScope. Connect the other end of the cable to the
USB port on your computer. The USB port is a rectangular opening with the symbol
next to it. The “new hardware found” wizard will start up.

5. If you get the following screen (asking to search the internet for drivers), select “No, not this
time” and press the Next button

6. Select the option “Install the software automatically” and press the Next button

2
7. If you get a warning window like the one below press the “Continue Anyway” button.

8. This will complete the Hardware Wizard. Restart your computer if you get a “Restart”
message from Windows. If you get a message that your hardware is installed and ready to
use, continue to the next step to install the Video ToolBox software.

9. After the computer restarts, open the CD and double-click on the Video ToolBox Installer
program. Follow the instructions in the installer program to complete the software
installation.

Video ToolBox Installer.exe

10. Your MiScope is ready to use. Start the Video ToolBox program and skip down to the
section “Using your Miscope-MP for the First Time.”

Manually Installing the MiScope Software

If you have trouble performing an automatic installation, we recommend that you manually install
the MiScope-MP drivers. The MiScope-MP Installer CD contains all the software needed to use
the MiScope and the Video ToolBox software. These step-by-step instructions will show you
how to install all the software.

On some networked computers, it is necessary to be logged in as the administrator or as a user

with administrator privileges. If you computer is connected to a corporate network, contact your
network administrator to make sure your user account is setup to install driver software. If you
are installing the software on your personal computer, then this is not an issue.

Instructions

1. To install the software insert the CD into your computer’s CD-ROM drive.

2. Open the “My Computer” window and double-click on the CD-ROM icon.

3
3. Double-click on the Video ToolBox Installer program. Follow the instructions in the installer
program to complete the software installation.

Video ToolBox Installer.exe

4. Plug the USB cable into the back of the camera. Connect the other end of the cable to the
USB 2.0 port on your computer. Windows will recognize the camera as a USB 2.0 camera
and will begin the driver installation.

5. On some computers Windows will install the camera using its own drivers. If Windows tells
you that the camera is ready to use then you will need to update the drivers by following steps
5a – 5e. If instead, Windows shows you the “Found New Hardware Wizard” window then
skip directly to step 6.

5a. To override the Windows drivers select the Control Panel Window. On Windows
2000 you will find the Control Panel window under the Start Menu (lower-left corner
of the screen), then select Settings, then select Control Panel. On Windows XP select
the Start menu and then select Control Panel. Next, in the “Select a Category”
window click on the “Performance and Maintenance” option.

5b. Now locate the “System” icon in the window and double-
click on it. This will open a window for accessing system
parameters. Find the tab across the top labeled Hardware
and select it.

5c. On the hardware page find the section labeled “Device

Manager” and press the Device Manager button.

4
 5d. In the device manager window look for the
category “Imaging Devices” and click on the
small “+” sign to show all the devices connected.
Double-click on the “Omnivision SuperCAM”
entry.

5e. Press the Update Driver button to begin the update

process and proceed to step 6.

5f. If you get the following message

asking if Windows can connect to the
internet to search for driver, press the
No button and click Next.

6. The Hardware Update Wizard window should be

open. Under the “What do you want the wizard to
do?” question select “Install from a list or specific
location” and click Next to continue.

5
7. Under the “Please choose your search and
installation options” question select “Don’t search I
will choose the driver to install” then click Next to
continue.

8. Under the “Select the device driver you want to

install for this hardware” question press the Have
Disk button.

9. Press the browse button to locate the driver files.

10. Select the CD-ROM drive from the pulldown

menu at the top, and open the folder labeled
“MiScope-MP Drivers.” Select the file
“MiScope-MP” and press the open button.

11. Press the OK button in the “Install From Disk” window to

continue.

6
12. Now select the “ZC105 Camera” driver from the
list and click the Next button to continue.

13. You may see a window warning that the drivers have not passed
Windows logo testing. Press the Continue Anyway button.
Windows will install the updated camera drivers.

14. After all the drivers are installed Windows will show the
“Completing the Hardware Update Wizard” window.
Press the Finish button to complete the installation. The
MiScope-MP is now ready to use.

Using your MiScope-MP for the First Time

The first time you use your MiScope-MP, you will need to configure your software. After your
first use, the program will remember all the settings and will restore them each time the program
is used. The following instructions will show you how to properly configure the software.

Starting Video ToolBox

You can start Video ToolBox by using the Windows Start Menu or by double-clicking on the
Video ToolBox green arrow icon on your main desktop window. To use the Windows Start
Menu, click on the Start menu button at the bottom left of the screen and select Programs à
Zarbeco à Video ToolBox to start the program.

7
This will open the Video ToolBox main window.

Settings button

Configuring Video ToolBox Program Settings

To configure the program press the Settings Button to open the Settings window. The help file
will provide a detailed description of each option. For now you will need to select the video
device and configure it to display the video image on the screen.

Select Video Device from the list on the left side of the window.

8
Configure the program to match the window above. The parameters are:

Video Device (menu): Identifies the device which is connected to the video source. For the
MiScope-MP, the device type is “ZC105 Camera”

NTSC/PAL: Video format. Not applicable for a digital camera.

Video Source: Press the set button to access the camera settings. Many of these settings are also
accessible from the Contrast button on the main window.

Video Format: Size and type of image. For the MiScope-MP, the choices are 1280 x
1024 and 640 x 480. To change the resolution to 640 x 480, use the set button next to the
“Video Format” label to reconfigure the camera.

Frame Rate: The speed at which the image updates. When set to 640 x 480 pixels, the
ZC105 camera can display images at up to 30 frames/second. When set to 1280 x 1024
pixels, the maximum frame rate is 14 frames/second.

Video Codec: A program which reduces the size of movie files. See the help file (How To
Capture A Movie At High Frame Rate) for more information on this parameter. You do not need
to change this setting now.

We recommend that you use the driver properties window to configure the MiScope-MP camera
settings. Access the driver window by pressing the Video Format set button.

9
This will open the driver properties window

which lets you directly configure the MiScope-MP camera. Configure the output size to 1280 x
1024 for the highest resolution, or 640 x 480 for high-speed video display. Press the OK button
to apply the settings. Press the done button to close the Settings Window. You should see a
video image on the screen. If not, open the help file (by pressing the Help button) and go to the
section on troubleshooting.

Resizing the Image in the Window

Video ToolBox can resize the image to fill the window or the screen by using the Zoom button.
Use the “Fit to window” option of the zoom button to make the image fill the window. Set the
image to an exact size using the 1x – 4x Zoom button options.

10
 Zoom button

Video image

Note that the high resolution of the MiScope-MP camera is larger than the display of most
computer monitors. If you do you use the “Fit to window” setting, you will need to scroll the
window to view the entire sample under the MiScope.

Learning More About Video ToolBox

To learn more about Video ToolBox see the Video ToolBox Help file – accessed through the
Help button on the main window.

ZC Exposure Control

The MiScope-MP also includes a program called ZC Exposure Control. The exposure control
utility allows you to adjust the camera settings including the gain, exposure, white balance, and
extended exposure settings. You can run the ZC Exposure Control program at anytime to adjust
the camera settings. You can save the settings and recall them at a later time. Please review the
help file that comes with the ZC Exposure control program for more information on the features
of this software.

11
 Using the MiScope-MP

The MiScope-MP is as easy to use as a computer mouse. Grab the MiScope-MP with
your right hand, placing your thumb on the slider control. The slider control is used to
adjust the focus and magnification of the image. Start by moving the slider control with
your thump to the top position (40X). In this position the MiScope-MP is set to 40X
magnification and it will focus on an object directly below the microscope.

Hold the MiScope in the right hand

with the thumb on the slider control.

Slide to adjust
British five pound note zoom and focus

12
Place the MiScope-MP on top of the object to view. The MiScope-MP should be in
contact (or almost in contact) to focus on the object. If the image is blurry, slowly move
the slider control down and view the image until it is in focus. If you continue moving
the slider control down, the image will get blurry and also larger. As you continue to
move the slider control near the 140X position the image will once again become
focused.

The MiScope-MP can also be moved away from the object to view a larger area. You
can lift the MiScope-MP up to an inch away from the object and still focus. Moving the
MiScope-MP away will let you view a larger area.

The MiScope-MP can be used to inspect many samples. Place it on fabric, skin, money,
insects or plants. If the sample doesn’t fit completely under the MiScope-MP, you can
tip the MiScope-MP to accommodate the large objects. You can also place the MiScope-
MP sideways onto a large object to view its fine details.

Tip the MiScope to inspect larger objects

like this cork, that don’t completely fit
beneath the microscope.

Known Problems

MiScope-MP Capture button

The MiScope-MP has a capture button on the microscope. Currently the button does not
initiate an image capture. Use the capture button in the Video ToolBox software to
capture the image. We are working to enable the capture button for the MiScope-MP.

13
 Solutions to Common Problems

My image is out of focus.

The MiScope will focus on any object located from the surface of the clear plastic
window up into the cutout section (see photo below). To adjust the focus, move the
slider control with your thumb and watch the image on the screen. The image will
change size and focus but just watch until the object is clearly in focus.

Video updates very slowly on the screen.

The video speed on the screen is related to the speed of the computer, the speed of the
video card, and the amount of video memory. A minimum Pentium IV 1 GHz with 512
MB of memory, 32MB of video memory and USB 2.0 port is required. A recommended
system has at least a Pentium IV 2.5 GHz, 1 GB of memory, 64 MB video memory and a
USB 2.0 port. An Intel Duo Core processor will give the best performance as Video
ToolBox is designed to run on a multi-core processor.

There are other ways to increase the speed of the video display:

1) Reduce the monitor resolution.

From the Start Menu (lower left corner of the screen) select Settings à Control Panel and
then select the Display icon. At the top of the Display Properties window select Settings.
Under the option for Color Quality select Medium (16 bit) and press the Apply button.

2) Reduce the screen resolution (if step #1 didn’t solve the problem).

On the same Display Properties window change the Screen Resolution setting to
1024 x 768 pixels or to 800 x 600 pixels. Press the Apply button to change the screen
resolution.

14
 Technical Support

For technical support with Video ToolBox please contact

Zarbeco, LLC
12 Ridge Road
Randolph, NJ 07869

Phone: 973-989-2673
Fax: 973-989-2674
E-mail: [email protected]

Please try to have the following information available:

Computer operating system _____________________

Computer memory _____________________
Video memory _____________________
Processor speed _____________________

You can find most of this information in the following locations:

15
Start Menu à Settings à Control Panel, then double-click on the System icon to bring
up the following screen:

Additional information on your video card can be found by:

Start Menu à Settings à Control Panel, then double-click on the Display icon to bring
up the following display

Select the settings tab to get this next window

16
 Press the advanced button to bring up a new window which
will have additional information on your video card. You may need to find a tab labeled
Adapter or Hardware to locate the information you will need.

17
 MiScope-MP Specifications

Image Sensor: 1/3” CMOS

Pixels: 1280 x 1024
Power: USB port
Light Source: super-bright LEDs
Field of View up to 32 mm diagonal at minimum magnification
@40X: 8 x 9.5 mm
@140X: 2.4 x 3 mm
Resolution: 2.3 microns @ 140x magnification

Computer Requirements

Minimum
Pentium IV 1 GHz or greater, 512 MB memory, 32 MB video memory,
Windows 2000/XP, DirectX 8.1 or greater, Internet Explorer 5.0 or greater, USB 2.0 port.

Recommended
Pentium IV 2.5+ GHz or Pentium Duo Core preferred, 1+ GB memory,
128+ MB video memory, Windows 2000/XP, DirectX 9.0c, Internet
Explorer 5.0 or greater, USB 2.0 port.

Accessories

If you plan you use your MiScope-MP on the go, these accessories will make your
MiScope-MP work even better:

Part No. Description

MiSC-HC Watertight hard case for MiScope. Protect your MiScope from the
elements with this foam-lined case.

VTB-GPS GPS option with software and antenna. Add a location stamp to your
images which tells you exactly where you where when you captured that
important picture. You will never again have to worry about forgetting to
record your location information.

18