About

This is a Python script for an DNT USB microscope camera. This microscope was sold a 5 MPix years ago, but delivers only a 640x480 25fps stream. I didn't like the feeling of the original software, so i did my own.

I'm using Python-3.12.0 with OpenCV on Windows. It should work with other similar cameras and Linux as well. This program, and associated information is Open Source (see Licence).

Screenshot

The Image below is a screenshot, taken with CTRL+s from the current video stream. It shows three 0603 resistors. As a reference, each resistor is 1.60mm x 0.80 mm.

If you don't want the menu in the screenshot, turn it off before using key m.

There's nearly no delay between the camera and the video, this improves the usability a lot. And, if you ever used such device, you will love the rotation feature just entering an r.

Features

• Image scaling using Bicubic interpolation.
• Blur image smoothing (default = off)
• Fullscreen / Windowed mode
• Image rotation in 90deg steps
• Variable Contrast
• Variable Brightness
• Snapshot images
• On Screen menu (default = on), can be turned off

Dependencies

• Python 3
• OpenCV with v4l (Linux) or MSMF (Windows) or FFMPEG video capture.

NOTE: the version included in mingw64 doesnt include all video capture devices (for example MSMF is missing).

Running the Program

Run USB-microscope.py.

It uses the default camera device, you may need to change it, if more than one video device is available. If needed, change the line

dev = 0

Compiling the program into an exe (Windows)

Open a command window, change to the directory, where USB-microscope.py is located and run

pyinstaller -F USB-microscope.py

If the command is not yet installed, you may install need to install it first:

py -m pip install pyinstaller

Using the program

• ESC or q - end program
• + or - - change window size and scale up/down
• s - smooth image
• b - toggle trough brightness values
• c - toggle trough contrast values
• r - rotate clockwise in 90deg steps
• m - toggle menu
• CTRL + s - save snapshot as png

A last comment

This a fast and quick one-day shot. I'm not going to spend too much time for this. But, if you have some really good idea for improvement, let me know..

Have phun, Winfried