The FL-20BW is a cutting-edge monochrome camera designed for high-resolution scientific imaging, offering a 20-megapixel resolution and a 1-inch image sensor optimized for C-mount lenses. With advanced thermoelectric cooling technology, it achieves a dark current as low as 0.001e-/pixel/s, making it ideal for long exposure imaging. By combining the best features of CMOS technology, such as low noise and high speed, the FL-20BW camera provides exceptional performance across a variety of applications, balancing cost-efficiency and imaging quality.
Key Features
- High Resolution: 20 megapixels with a 1-inch image sensor.
-Advanced Cooling Technology: Reduces dark current to 0.001e-/pixel/s.
- High Signal-to-Noise Ratio: Quantum efficiency of 84%, read noise of 0.6 electrons.
- Thermoelectric Cooling: Operates at -15°C
- Speed: Capable of 50 fps high-speed imaging.
- Real-Time Intelligent Image Processing: Includes noise reduction, HDR image synthesis, and intelligent exposure controls.
- Durable and Reliable Design: Combines CCD-level noise reduction with CMOS speed and efficiency.
Ideal for
- Fluorescence Imaging: Cleaner fluorescent background images for professional applications.
- Microscopy: High-detail imaging using 4X and 10X objectives.
- Bioluminescence: Ideal for low-light imaging scenarios.
- Astronomy: Long exposure imaging with minimal noise.
- PCR/qPCR and Gel Imaging: Chemiluminescence applications requiring low readout noise.
- Applications Demanding Low Noise and Long Exposure Times: Ensures clarity and precision.
Software Compatibility
- Mosaic 2.1 Software: Supports camera control, image processing, and measurement. Features advanced algorithms for real-time stitching, EDF, and fluorescence image synthesis.
- Compatible with Tucsen’s SDK development kit, Microsoft DirectShow, and Twain video interface.
- Dual-platform compatibility with Microsoft Windows and macOS.
- TUCam Driver available for use with MicroManager
We offer a full return on all unopened products within 30 days from the date of delivery. To be eligible for a full return, your Product must be unused, in the same condition that you received it, and in its original packaging. Any opened products will be subject to a 25% restocking fee.
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Computed from the sensor specification: 5472 × 3648 pixels at 2.4 µm across a 13.13 × 8.76 mm area, with 0.6 e− read noise and 0.001 e−/pixel/s of dark current at −15 °C.
How much of my sample fits in frame?
Pick your objective. The table gives the field of view at the sample for each common C-mount adapter, along with the sampling check against that objective's diffraction limit.
2×NA 0.06Rayleigh 5.59 µmWhole-organism and tissue survey
C-mount adapter
Field of view
Pixel at sample
Sampling
1×
6.57 × 4.38mm
1.20µm
Oversampled
0.7×
9.38 × 6.25mm
1.71µm
Nyquist met
0.63×
10.42 × 6.95mm
1.90µm
Nyquist met
0.5×
13.13 × 8.76mm
2.40µm
Nyquist met
4×NA 0.1Rayleigh 3.35 µmSection overview and slide scanning
C-mount adapter
Field of view
Pixel at sample
Sampling
1×
3.28 × 2.19mm
0.60µm
Oversampled
0.7×
4.69 × 3.13mm
0.86µm
Nyquist met
0.63×
5.21 × 3.47mm
0.95µm
Nyquist met
0.5×
6.57 × 4.38mm
1.20µm
Nyquist met
10×NA 0.25Rayleigh 1.34 µmRoutine screening and colony counting
Sampling compares the effective pixel at the sample against half the Rayleigh distance at 550 nm, the usual Nyquist test. Oversampled is not a fault: it means you can bin 2 × 2 for four times the signal per pixel and a faster readout while still resolving everything the objective delivers. Objective NA values are typical and vary by manufacturer, so check yours. Full Tucsen specification.
What does the noise floor do over a long exposure?
This is the case cooling is built for. Select an exposure and watch how much dark current accumulates against the 0.6 e− read noise that is there from the first frame.
Read noise0.60 e−
Dark noise
Combined
Bars scaled against a 2 e− full width.
Exposure0.1 s
Dark electrons0.000e−
Total noise floor0.60e−
Dynamic range26,663:1
Read-noise limited
Dark current is still negligible next to the read noise. The camera performs here exactly as it does on a short exposure, which is the whole point of cooling to −15 °C.
Exposure1 s
Dark electrons0.001e−
Total noise floor0.60e−
Dynamic range26,630:1
Read-noise limited
Dark current is still negligible next to the read noise. The camera performs here exactly as it does on a short exposure, which is the whole point of cooling to −15 °C.
Exposure10 s
Dark electrons0.010e−
Total noise floor0.61e−
Dynamic range26,304:1
Read-noise limited
Dark current is still negligible next to the read noise. The camera performs here exactly as it does on a short exposure, which is the whole point of cooling to −15 °C.
Exposure1 min
Dark electrons0.060e−
Total noise floor0.65e−
Dynamic range24,689:1
Still read-noise dominated
Dark current has started to contribute but read noise is still the larger term. Total noise has grown by only 8 percent over the short-exposure floor.
Exposure5 min
Dark electrons0.300e−
Total noise floor0.81e−
Dynamic range19,695:1
Still read-noise dominated
Dark current has started to contribute but read noise is still the larger term. Total noise has grown by only 35 percent over the short-exposure floor.
Exposure15 min
Dark electrons0.900e−
Total noise floor1.12e−
Dynamic range14,254:1
Dark current now matters
Dark and read noise are now comparable. Still very usable, and a dark-frame subtraction recovers most of the difference.
Exposure1 hour
Dark electrons3.600e−
Total noise floor1.99e−
Dynamic range8,040:1
Dark current dominates
At the top of the camera's one-hour exposure range, dark current is the leading noise term. Take a matched dark frame at the same temperature and subtract it.
Noise terms add in quadrature, so the combined figure is the square root of read noise squared plus accumulated dark electrons. Photon shot noise from the sample itself is not included, since it depends on your signal rather than the camera. Dynamic range uses the 16,000 e− full well. Maximum exposure is one hour. Ask Axiom Optics about your imaging conditions.
Monochrome or color?
Both cameras use the same sensor, the same cooling and the same software, and both list at the same price. The choice is about what you are imaging.
Monochrome, this cameraOn this page
Choose this for
Fluorescence, single or multi-channel
Chemiluminescence and gel imaging
qPCR and dPCR endpoint reads
Bioluminescence and other low-light work
Any quantitative intensity measurement
Every pixel collects every photon that reaches it. There is no color filter array taking roughly two thirds of the light away, and no demosaicing interpolating values the sensor never measured.
Why it matters. For fluorescence you choose the wavelength with your filter cube, so a color sensor would be discarding light to re-derive information the filter already gave you. That is why the peak 84 percent quantum efficiency on this page is meaningful in a way a color camera's cannot be.
A Bayer filter array over the same sensor, giving true color in one shot with no filter wheel and no channel registration step.
Why it matters. For a stained section the color is the information. Reproducing it with a monochrome camera means three exposures through three filters plus registration, which is slower and harder to keep consistent across a slide.
Shared across both: the 5472 × 3648 sensor, cooling to −15 °C, 0.6 e− read noise, C-mount, USB 3.0, and Mosaic software with an SDK for custom integration. A discounted color unit is sometimes listed under special deals. See all low-noise CMOS cameras.
