Bio-Rad Image Lab™ Software - Manual (Page 76)

6 | Acquiring Images
76 | Gel Doc XR+ and ChemiDoc XRS+ Systems with Image Lab Software
Rather than manually acquiring a series of independent images with
different imaging times, SAM presents a cumulative series of images with
progressively greater signal in each image. SAM is a partially automated
method for image acquisition because it requires that you estimate the
shortest and longest times expected to generate an image with the
appropriate signal intensity. You then decide how many total images to
acquire in this time frame.
Note: For any given exposure time, you will get more background
noise with a SAM acquisition than you would with a single image taken
at the specified exposure time.
For example, if the expected minimum time to image the sample is 1
minute and the maximum is 5 minutes, these values are entered (in
seconds) in the setup window. If you enter 5 in the Total number of images
field (as shown below), three images will be acquired between the first and
last images.
To use SAM, click Signal Accumulation Mode and select Setup to display
the Signal Accumulation Setup dialog box.
In this example, the bar in the Signal Accumulation Setup dialog box
shows that images will be acquired at 1 minute intervals, beginning at
1 minute and ending at 5 minutes. The second 1 minute image is added to
the first 1 minute image, resulting in a 2 minute total integration time image.
The third 1 minute image is added to the previous image, and so on, until
the last image is presented.