The LaserTest measures
the spatial distribution of light from laser, LED and fiber optic
sources. These systems use standard RS-170 and CCIR cameras to
capture beam images and the video signal is digitized with a
framegrabber; either a PCI or PC Card. The result is a live false
color display of beam intensity along with key beam dimensional
measurements.
The software displays the
data in four panes: The left three panes contain user selected data
for XY profiles, 3D plot and beam statistics. The latter reverts to
a tabular data display when an array of images is captured. The
user selects data types by simply clicking and dropping one of the
"Hot Buttons" into the resizable data pane. This allows to user to
optimize the screen display to emphasize particular data. Part or
all of the screen can be printed or saved to the Windows clipboard
for transfer to other programs.
Data is easily
dimensionally calibrated to allow use of a lens or microscope for
large or small beams from inches to microns in size. For pulsed
lasers a flash detection trigger is used that allows the user to
set a threshold for pulse detection. Individual or sequential,
timed pulses can then be captured automatically. Imaging processing
for dimensional measurement, locating the plot at the centroid,
background subtraction, adjustment of DC camera offset, image
enlargement, smoothing, addition of text notes and averaging are
included in the software.
